


i'll stop the world and melt with you

by MaddDog



Category: Supergirl (TV 2015)
Genre: Alternate Universe - No Powers, F/F, Kara owns an Artisanal Popsicle stand, Lena's still a prodigy CEO gay mess, SuperCorp, farmers market AU
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-04-02
Updated: 2019-02-13
Packaged: 2019-04-17 02:47:45
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 29,488
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14178861
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MaddDog/pseuds/MaddDog
Summary: With the stack of documents triumphantly in her arms, Jess softened.  “You look like hell.”Lena ran a hand over her forehead.  “Wow, thanks.”Putting the paper into a manila folder and sliding it into one of the desk drawers, Jess marched over to the closet, searching for spare clothes she knew Lena kept.  “We are going to the Farmers Market.  You are going to breathe some fresh air, get a little Vitamin D, and then I’m driving you home and you’re going to relax this weekend.”ORSupercorp Farmers Market AU.  Lena's an overworked mess and Kara owns an artisanal popsicle stand





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Inspired by my weekly trips to the Farmers Market.
> 
> I honestly have no business starting another fic, but here we are.
> 
> Enjoy + let me know what you think!!!

Lena felt Jess’ glare of disapproval before she even looked up to see her in the doorway. So it was eight am on a Saturday and she hadn’t been home yet, big deal. She was CEO of a billion-dollar company, it just had to happen sometimes. It wasn’t as if she had meant to do it, but she was behind on paperwork and no one else was going to get it done. Friday had turned into Saturday and she had laid down on her office couch when she saw the first rays of sun begin to peek from the horizon. It was short lived as the sun actually coming up had assaulted her curtainless office with light and she was back at the desk again and hadn’t moved since. She was still in yesterday’s clothes, her hair was in dire need of a wash, and her garbage can was filled with takeout containers, but she was almost done. Stressed and exhausted, the last thing she needed was Jess’ judgy eyes. 

An exasperated sigh from Jess broke the silence. “What the fuck, Lena?”

Lena glanced up for only a moment before going back to the page, pen still scrawling along. “That’s no way to greet your boss.”

“It’s a Saturday and I’m off the clock. I’m not your assistant right now, and as your friend, I get to say, what the _fuck_ are you still doing here?” Jess placed an indignant hand on her hip, straw tote slipping off her shoulder. 

“I’m working,” Lena said simply. “Why are you here?”

Jess dangled her phone charger from her hand. “Forgot this yesterday.” She fully entered, the room, door swinging shut as she walked to Lena’s desk. “Get up, you’re coming with me.”

“What are you- Jess stop.” Lena tried defending her papers from Jess’ grabbing hands. She gave up quickly, she didn’t have the energy to fight. And she really didn’t oppose the idea of taking a break, her eyes felt like they were going to fall out of her head. 

With the stack of documents triumphantly in her arms, Jess softened. “You look like hell.”

Lena ran a hand over her forehead. “Wow, thanks.”

Putting the paper into a manila folder and sliding it into one of the desk drawers, Jess marched over to the closet, searching for spare clothes she knew Lena kept. “We are going to the Farmers Market. You are going to breathe some fresh air, get a little Vitamin D, and then I’m driving you home and you’re going to relax this weekend.” She pulled out a pair of jeans and a white tee. “Put these on.”

Standing up with a groan, back stiff from being hunched over for hours, Lena reluctantly took the offered clothes and went into the bathroom.

While Lena changed, Jess rummaged in more of the desk drawers, finding makeup wipes, deodorant, perfume, and a travel bottle of dry shampoo. She drummed her fingertips against the bathroom door. “You naked?”

“No.” Lena’s voice was muffled as she pulled open the door, new outfit on and a toothbrush hanging from her mouth. She pulled her hair back to spit paste into the sink, eyeing Jess’ new supplies. “Is this your subtle way of telling me I smell?”

A pointed look and a slight eyebrow raise answered the question. “Just finish up, I want to make sure the Mushroom Guys still have maitakes when we get there.”

Lena tried not to take too much offense, she had been in her office for over twenty-four hours. Once fresh-faced and covered in artificial scents, she let Jess push her halfway out the door before realizing, “I don’t have shoes on.”

Jess flipped her sunglasses down and continued to tug Lena out. “I have sandals in my car, come _on_.”

Being shoeless in the elevator felt unclean and Lena shifted from foot to foot the entire way down to the parking garage, Jess’ Subaru Outback parked haphazardly near the door. It was like leaving the office had given her permission to feel the effects of her all-nighter, body dropping into the passenger seat heavily. She pulled her own sunglasses from her purse, sliding them on.

Jess rummaged in the back seat before popping into the front with a pair of Birkenstocks and a baseball cap. “I can see the dry shampoo in your roots, you look like you have a serious dandruff problem.”

“I look like a giant lesbian,” Lena muttered, slipping the shoes on and fitting the cap over her head anyway.

“Good thing you are one,” Jess said, voice drowned out by the start of the engine. 

The sunglasses and hat combo were absolute saviors as Jess pulled out of the parking garage. Barely a cloud in the sky, it was sunny and bright, temperatures in the mid-eighties if Jess’ car thermometer was accurate. Ideal for most, but a nightmare for Lena’s burned out retinas. Jess respected Lena’s lack of conversation, putting on NPR at a low volume to fill the silence. 

The street nearest the market was mobbed. Besides the Saturday morning set up, they were also within blocks of National City’s public beach. It was a hot July day and parking was simply a game of luck. The constant jerking stops were enough to make Lena carsick, Jess muttering an impressive string of curse words each time she _almost_ found a spot. Eventually parallel parking in a tight space, just inches on either end, Jess let out a whoop, pulling her keys out. 

Lena took a deep breath, trying to hold off on heaving up the cold fried rice she had sated her appetite with at 2 am on the plastic floor mat. Jess’ impatient tapping on the window broke her concentration.

“Mushrooms, Lena, let’s go!”

Slinging her purse over her shoulder, Lena pulled the door handle, stepping out into the heat of the day, trailing Jess down the sidewalk. It was hot, the air saturated in a promise that it would only get warmer. The back of Lena’s neck was sweating under the blanket of her hair after the first block. She never understood why the weather in National City was considered some of the best in the country. The best for who? People immune to sunburn? Masochists that enjoyed perspiring? The transfer of L-Corp headquarters was a good business decision, a good life decision, but goddammit Lena would kill for a crisp, fall day in Metropolis. 

Jess’ pace only quickened the closer they got, a solid power walk by the time the area was in sight. The usually bare square along the waterfront was littered with tents and tables, produce piled high and specialty products everywhere. Parents were pushing strollers, dragging older kids by the arm, young couples holding hands, old people meandering their way through the crowds, unknowingly causing backups in their painfully slow wake. 

“I know it looks nuts, but you’re going to love it,” Jess promised, giving a friendly nod to the greeter as they passed through the entrance. 

Lena raised an unconvinced eyebrow. “If you say so.”

Soon armed with a paper bag of mushrooms and sent off with an overly chipper, ‘Enjoy your fungus!’ by a bearded man who looked as high as a kite, Jess paused. “That was my only urgent purchase, didn’t want to get stuck with Criminis the rest of the week. Anything piquing your interest so far?”

Lena wanted to be petulant, insist the place was stupid and demand to go home. She was running on a half an hour of sleep at most and she felt completely ridiculous in her current attire, but Jess was just being a good friend, making her interact with the real world. And there was a fresh-pressed juice stand. She pointed, “Don’t Kale My Vibe?”

“I knew that’s what you’d pick.” Jess linked her arm through Lena’s. “Their green juice is incredible.”

It was. Incredible. Lena worked her way through samples of all three juices before buying a bottle of the green for her and one for Jess. She came out with a business card, a nutritional fact sheet, and plenty of change as they had so kindly broken a one-hundred dollar bill for her. “What next?”

“Um, steel-cut oats.” Jess wove them through the crowd, nearly getting to the table before getting distracted by cheese spread samples. 

“Try some?” The lady running the all-natural cheddar spread booth held tiny plastic spoons out. 

Jess didn’t hesitate, thanking the woman and sticking the spoon in her mouth. “Oh my god, Lena.”

“I’m vegan.” Lena attempted to politely wave the sample off.

“You literally made me order you cheese fries before nine on Wednesday morning, Lena,” Jess said, disposing of her spoon in the designated container. “You’re a vegetarian at best. Stop lying to yourself and try the damn cheese.”

The woman offered the spoon again. “This one is made with Merlot,” she tempted.

And just like the cigarette Veronica Sinclair had offered in the girl’s bathroom during fourth period World History ten years prior, Lena succumbed to the peer pressure. For the better this time around, a semi-embarrassing moan leaving her mouth instead of a hacking cough. “I’ll take it.”

Two purchases deep and Lena was done for. Sleep-deprived and hungry, she wanted everything, scratch that, _needed_ everything. Three pounds of carrots were two dollars. There was fresh pasta made with brown rice flour and spinach powder. An adorable family was selling various jam blends, including a sinful cranberry habanero. Lena barely made it home with time enough to sleep on the daily, but that didn’t stop her from buying as if she was about to chef it up every single night for the next month. 

“I need coffee.” Jess readjusted her bag, stalk of fennel poking into her upper arm.

Lena took a step to follow before jumping back, a stampede of a few elementary aged kids and a wobbly toddler crossing in front of her. An exhausted looking woman pushing a stroller full of food instead of a baby followed, breathing Lena a quick apology. The cause of the ruckus, Lena found, was the artisan popsicle stand near the fountain. 

An enthusiastic woman was squat in front of the cart, a tray full of little cups of samples. She laughed at the commotion, giving each child a high five and seriously complimenting the youngest on her avocados booties. She was dressed for the weather, in worn jean shorts and a halter crop top dotted with little pineapples, a strip of impressively toned, tanned stomach between the two, blonde hair piled in an unruly top knot. Popping back up to her full height and pushing her glasses up the bridge of her nose, she corralled the kids back towards their mother, a skip in her step as she went back behind the cart to assist her associate, a girl no more than thirteen. 

One of Lena’s jars slipped and she caught it before it fell, realizing she had been staring at the charismatic popsicle lady for longer than what was probably socially acceptable. She averted her gaze, grateful for the hat to hide her face and searched out Jess’ floral dress in the coffee line. 

“What are you looking for?”

Lena nearly jumped out of her skin, grip tightening on everything in her arms. Fucking Jess. “You really enjoy torturing me, don’t you?”

Straw between her teeth, a cup of iced coffee in hand, Jess smirked. “Not my fault you were too busy open-mouth gaping at popsicle girl over there to notice me.”

“I was not.”

“You were catching flies, practically drooling. I get it, she’s cute,” Jess said with a shrug. “You should talk to her.”

“And say what?” Lena started for the table with essential oils and herbal tinctures. “Hey Popsicle Girl, I don’t come to these things often but I’d like a Strawberry pop and for you to top me.”

“That might be a little forward Lena, you don’t even know her name,” Jess teased. “But a Pop and Top, that sounds like a trend just waiting to happen.”

“Jess, I’m tired. Please don’t fuck with me when I’m tired.”

“I’m not fucking with you. And we can leave whenever you want, I have everything I need. I’ve literally just been following you around while you try and buy the entire market, Miss ‘I’m tired’.” Jess picked up a vial labeled, ‘Stress Relief’. “If you sampled some of this, do you think you could chill out for a little bit? Pretty girl’s got you all flustered.”

Lena scanned the table. “I don’t know. Do you think they’ve got a tonic for bitchy best friends here?”

“I’m not being a bitch, I’m just trying to get you to put yourself out there.”

“I know and I love you, but how am I supposed to drag a girl into my disaster of a life?” Lena asked with a sigh.

Jess picked out an adaptogenic turmeric smoothie powder blend, paying for it. “I’m not telling you to find a wife, go out to dinner with someone, flirt, have one-night-stand popsicle sex.”

Lena rolled her eyes. “Jessica…”

“Cut loose, have fun. You’re twenty-five, successful and hot. Your eye bags might be packed for a long weekend in hell but your butt looks great in those jeans and you are absolutely killing the hat game,” Jess rambled, hyping Lena up. 

“I’d hug you if I could right now,” Lena said. A timid but dutiful assistant at first, Jess had become her closest friend in the last two years. Jess had caught her crying in the bathroom after a particularly awful board meeting and had been nothing but supportive. At this point, she didn’t know what she’d do without Jess always at the desk just outside her door. 

“Maybe you shouldn’t have bought so much shit. Do you even know how to cook?”

“Excuse me.” A new voice interrupted. 

There was a hand on Lena’s shoulder, a hand that wasn’t Jess because she was still standing in front of her. She whirled around and came face to face with the blonde from the popsicle stand. Lena’s mouth went dry, stomach dropping, not knowing how long she had been standing by them. 

“You looked like you could use a bag,” the woman said with a toothy grin, offering up one of the reusable cloth bags that were being sold near the market entrance. 

The tips of her ears burning, Lena looked at the bag, down at the items in her arms, at the woman, back to her things, and finished on the bag. “I, um, thank you, yeah, I suppose that might be a good idea.”

The woman held open the bag. “First time at the market?”

Heat spread to Lena’s cheeks as she started with her jars, putting the cheese spread and jam jar in first. “What tipped you off?” It really didn’t help that Jess was shaking, trying to control her laughter beside her. 

“No bag, rookie mistake.”

“I was ill-prepared,” Lena defended her state of disarray. “I was dragged here by my friend who hasn’t been very helpful.” She motioned to Jess with an elbow. 

Jess shrugged, swallowing a sip of coffee. “I was unaware I needed to teach you how to navigate an outdoor market.”

The woman passed over the significantly heavier bag once Lena’s arms were free. “Hey, there’s an art to it. I’ve seen people not know that you had to pay for things, they were just taking what they wanted. Or the order to buy things in. A woman once came up to me demanding a refund because she had gotten a box of popsicles when she came in and they melted by the time she was leaving.” She shook her head with a slight chuckle. “Oh, I’m Kara by the way, I own the popsicle stand over by the empanada cart.”

“I know, I mean, I saw. You, I mean.” Lena internally cursed her inability to sound eloquent in any way. She wasn’t tongue-tied, she was just sleep deprived. Taking a breath, she smiled and put the bag on her shoulder. “I’m Lena.”

“I’m Jess.”

Kara smiled again, eyes crinkling. “Nice to meet you both.”

“These bags were going for two dollars, weren’t they?” Lena realized, reaching for her purse. She had a brief recollection of a shitty hand-painted sign on the table selling them. 

Kara waved her off. “No, you’re good, it’s mine. I have way too many. But if you want to do me a favor, you’ll come try a popsicle. I probably shouldn’t leave Ruby unattended for too long.” She let her eyes wander over to the cart, a line had formed. “Shit, come on.”

Lena had no issue following, Jess at her side. Kara swooped back behind the cart, taking over, making Ruby dole out the popsicles while she quickly and cheerfully dealt with the customers and the money exchange. The line dwindled to nonexistent soon enough, Kara breathing a sigh of relief as the last person walked away. 

“That was why Mom said you weren’t allowed to leave me alone,” Ruby said, sitting down on one of the extra coolers. 

“I know.” Kara shot a more sheepish smile Lena and Jess’ way. “Ruby’s twelve, my sister’s girlfriend’s daughter. She’s helping me for the summer.”

“More like I was forced into child labor,” Ruby grumbled, standing up enough to grab a popsicle from the cooler beneath her before plopping back down and tearing off the wrapper. 

“Rubes, really?”

“Aunt Kara, it’s like a million degrees out here.”

Kara waved her off, focusing back on Lena and Jess. “Sorry, I promised the two of you popsicles. What do you think?” She gave a sweeping gesture to the flavor board. “Anything jumping out at you?”

The combination of fatigue and tinted lenses obstructed her vision enough that Lena took off her sunglasses, placing them on the hat to look at the board. Roasted plum cream, Papaya Black Limon, Turmeric Mango. “Not quite what I was expecting from a popsicle stand.”

Ruby pulled her pop out of her mouth with a smack. “They’re _artisanal_.”

“They’re meant to be a little different,” Kara explained. “I come up with all of them myself, taste test, mess with ratios, you have my word that every flavor is delicious.”

“Lavender lemonade,” Jess decided, finger tapping her chin. 

Kara reached into the cart freezer, pulling out a pale, purple pop dotted with buds. “Good choice, one of the fan-favorites. Lena?” The lack of an immediate answer made Kara second-guess herself, a hand reaching up to fiddle with her glasses. “It is Lena, right?”

“Oh yeah, yeah, sorry.” Lena was still staring at the list. She could make risky decisions in a snap at work, but menial, insignificant things like icy dessert flavors, she was useless. “I don’t care, what do you think I’ll like?”

Kara’s eyes lit up as she passed Jess her popsicle. “I love when people ask me that!” She clasped her hands together, biceps flexing a bit as she squeezed. “I always ask two questions. What is your zodiac sign and your favorite animal?”

Lena failed to see the importance of the questions but was endeared at how delighted Kara was, taking off the hat to push her hair from her eyes before putting it back on. “I’m a Capricorn and um, I don’t know.” She thought back to the Internet video of a blue-eyed pitbull dressed in a onesie that almost made her tear up during a slight break in her nightlong work. “Dogs, I guess.”

Biting down on her lip, Kara narrowed her eyes. She looked Lena up and down before digging in the freezer and pulling out a pink popsicle. “Grapefruit tarragon.” She held it out. “Let me know how I did, be honest. If you hate it, I can totally give you a different one.”

Lena tore the packaging off, sucking lightly on the top corner. It was tangy and tart, yet sweet, a hint of licorice and an herbaceous leafiness from the tarragon. Not taking it away from her mouth, she held out a thumbs up, taking advantage of her free hands. “Super good.”

“Aw, thanks.” Kara raised up a sneaker in a dorky foot pop, beaming yet again. 

“What do we owe you?” Lena dug into her purse, craning her neck to look for the price on the board, a dollar fifty each. “Three?” She pulled out a five dollar bill only to be denied again. 

“This is your first market experience, plus I made you guys come over here. What kind of monster would make you pay?”

“A monster interested in keeping her business alive,” Lena tried, unable to turn off the economic side of her brain. Kara still refused, though Lena did manage to sneak a twenty into the tip jar when Kara had her attention on a customer with a baby strapped to their front. Ruby mouthed a thank you as she went to help make change. A line was starting to form in front of the cart again and popsicle juice ran down Lena’s hand, the weight of the bag on her shoulder starting to dig in. “We should probably get going, let you guys get back to work.”

That got Kara’s focus back on them, cracking open a new roll of quarters and giving them to Ruby to dole out, before turning to Jess and Lena. She tucked a stray hair behind her ear. “It was really nice meeting you two, I hope you enjoy the popsicles.”

Jess licked up the edge of hers. “Thanks for the freebie.”

“Yes, thank you,” Lena echoed. “For the bag too, you’re a lifesaver.”

“Well, just trying to make a long time customer, hope to see you next week.” With a wink, Kara was back at Ruby’s side, helping the next person in line. 

Jess thankfully waited until they were outside the market and well out of earshot before grabbing Lena’s arm and screeching, “Oh my god!”

“Jess.”

“Lena, she winked at you. If you don’t come back here next week and ask her out or at least get her number, I will actually kill you.”

Putting her sunglasses back on, Lena dragged her feet, Birkenstocks too beat for her to be ruining them. She didn’t want to get ahead of herself. “You don’t even know if she’s into girls.”

“She asked you your _zodiac_ sign!”

/////

As promised, Jess dropped Lena off at her apartment, shoeless again, moving quickly through the lobby towards the elevator, not bothering to raise her sunglasses. She headed straight for her bathroom after putting everything away in the kitchen, her jeans were suffocating her legs and her hands still sticky with popsicle juice. In the bright lighting and large mirror, Lena could clearly see her forearms and the tip of her nose had been pinked by the sun, the hat having saved her from a full face burn. She took a cool shower, throwing on a fresh, large tee, no pants, fully intending on spending the rest of the day on the couch. Pouring herself a glass of Chardonnay, she took one sip and remembered how much she hated Chardonnay. She dumped it down the sink, refilling her glass with an Argentinian Malbec and flopped on the couch. With a chenille throw pooled around her feet, she flipped on the TV. 

Instead of shutting off and allowing her to nap, Lena’s mind wandered back through the morning at the market. Why had she been buying her groceries from Whole Foods when she could have been supporting local farmers and businesses? Why had she bought six watermelon radishes? Why had Kara singled her out of the crowd to give a bag to? Had she seen her staring? If she had been and Kara had noticed, was she creeped out? Probably not if she came up to talk to her. Did they flirt? Not that Lena would even know if she was. The closest she had gotten to any romantic interaction was Jess signing her up for Tinder. And the only messages she had received were a straight girl asking if she wanted in on a threesome and some uneducated fuck calling her a myriad of misspelled insults because of what her brother did. The sooner people realized she was more than an extension of her close-minded family, the better. 

Lena fiddled with her phone, maybe Kara had been flirting with her. The way she had touched her arm and helped her pack her things, the free treat, the smile…

She audibly groaned when realizing all the things she had listed were common, nice things that any decent human being would do. Not to mention she had been walking around looking like an absolute hot, sweaty mess. But then there was the wink, and the arms. Not that Kara did anything to flirt in regards to her arms. But they were certainly there. Finished with her wine, she placed the empty glass onto the coffee table, laying down and snuggling up in the blanket. Her brain needed to shut up and let her sleep.

And she definitely needed to go back to the Farmers Market.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “These should be illegal,” Lena nearly moaned. “I don’t even eat desserts usually.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know this took forever but here is a middle of the night update, FINALLY. There may be typos because it is currently after 3 am but I'll fix them as I see them. 
> 
> Enjoy Kara and Lena continuing to be god damn disasters. Per usual, feel free to scream at me in the comments or on tumblr!

Kara pulled the borrowed minivan into the Arias driveway, convincing Ruby to help her get the cart out of the trunk. She punched in the garage code, the door creaking into life, and maneuvered the cart carefully next to the bikes. Making sure it was steady before setting it down, she followed Ruby through the back gate. 

Alex and Sam were seated at the patio table working on a crossword, carrots and hummus sitting on a platter in front of them. “How was the market?” Sam asked, looking up. 

“Boring.” Ruby dropped her phone on the table and herself into an empty chair, grabbing a carrot. “Mom, can I have twenty dollars?”

Sam raised a brow. “For what?”

“I want to go to the mall with Kinzie and Fiona.”

Alex couldn’t stop the scoff that escaped her lips, earning herself a glare from Ruby. “Didn’t Kara just pay you?”

“I wasn’t asking you, Alex, I was asking my _mom_ ,” Ruby snarked, attitude flaring up, thumbs tapping at her phone. 

Raising a hand up in defense, Alex focused back on the crossword, penciling in an answer. 

Sam’s face fell with a sigh. “Ruby…”

Without looking up, Ruby continued texting. “So, can I?”

“Go shower and I’ll think about it.” Sam rubbed a hand over her eyes.

Ruby pushed back in the chair, the legs scraping noisily against the patio. “I hate when you say that. ‘I’ll think about it,’ always means no.” She shoved her phone into her back pocket and stalked into the house. 

Peeking between her fingers, Sam groaned. “Am I a terrible mom or do preteens just suck this much?”

“I don’t think you’re being unreasonable,” Kara said, finally taking a seat. 

“She took your credit card and used it to buy a pair of Yeezys,” Alex reminded, hand rubbing Sam’s back. “You having her work with Kara for the summer to pay you back and hesitating to hand out more money to her for more useless shopping is _good_ parenting.”

“She’s twelve.” Kara took a bite of carrot and hummus, swallowing before continuing. “Her feelings are big and valid, everything seems like the end of the world to her, and she’s just gotta figure out how to work through them. I was a mess when I was her age.”

Alex’s eyes widened and nodded in agreement. “She would lock herself in her room and listen to ‘Bad Day’ by Daniel Powter on repeat.”

“The teen angst is definitely making a comeback,” Sam said. “I let her look through all my old CDs so the morning rides to school have been filled with Simple Plan, Green Day, My Chemical Romance. I never remembered them being so heartbreakingly dramatic.”

“I would have loved to have met baby emo Sam.” Alex leaned back to grab a beer from the patio cooler. 

“I would have seduced you with my sick Vans and shitty eyeliner.” Sam shuddered as she watched Alex crack open her beer by holding the top near the table edge and whacking it just right to get the bottle cap off. “I hate when you do that.”

Alex took a sip then handed it over to Sam. “I haven’t broken one yet and I don’t plan to start now.”

Sam seemed to settle after a long drink from the bottle, giving it back. “Kara, Ruby was good for you today, right?”

“An angel,” Kara reassured, reaching for more hummus. “She was even being my wingman. I think seeing Alex’s face must have set off her bad mood.”

“You know, I’m going to choose to ignore your rude comments because _wingman_? Are you saying you actually talked to a cute girl?” Alex asked incredulously. 

Kara smirked, mind wandering back to the pretty, flustered goddess of a woman from the market. “Maybe.”

Alex kicked at Kara’s shin from under the table. “Spill.”

“Well, there was this girl, well woman. She was like, zombie-following her friend around, buying something from practically every table. And she didn’t have a bag so the pile in her arms just kept getting bigger and I must have said something to Ruby because she bet me ten dollars I wouldn’t go talk to her,” Kara explained. “But I got one of my old bags, helped her get her things together and then I invited her back for a popsicle.”

“And?” Sam leaned in. 

Kara fiddled with the hem of her shirt. “Her name’s Lena, I don’t know. She was sweet, and she had really pretty eyes....”

“Oh, you have a little crush!” Alex teased, reaching an arm over to muss Kara’s hair. 

Ducking the hand and swatting her sister away, Kara sighed. “Who knows if I’ll ever see her again, I told her I hoped she’d be back next week.”

“You might,” Sam said encouragingly. “What flavor popsicle did you give her?”

“Grapefruit tarragon.”

“She’ll be back, that one is heavenly,” Sam decided. 

A thumbnail found its way to Kara’s lips, biting her nails a gross, nervous habit she hadn't been able to kick. “And I winked at her.”

Alex nearly spit out her recent sip of beer. “If there is a lesbian god, that girl will be back.” She wiped at her lips. “You fucking winked?”

“Should I not have? It was like, a cute wink, I think.”

“Ehhh, show me what you did.” Alex put her beer down, ready to judge. 

“Oh god.” Kara fiddled with her glasses. “I’m pretty sure I just said, ‘hope to see you next week,’ and then I just kinda…” she demonstrated the wink. 

Sam laughed. “You’re adorable.”

/////

Kara was out of stock of her top two flavors by Thursday, calling up Winn for assistance. Her counter was covered in popsicle molds, her sticky binder full of recipes, quantity notes and sales history propped up by a bunch of browning bananas. 

The apartment door opened, Winn knocking on as he walked in. “Knock knock!”

“Did you get the lemons?” Kara asked before giving him a proper greeting. 

Winn held up a large paper bag. “Yes. I didn’t really know how much you meant when you said a shit ton, so I just kind of guessed. I brought wine too.”

“You’re my favorite.” Kara took the bag, tossing it on the counter. “Your apron’s in the front closet.” 

“It’s not my apron,” Winn said, setting the wine down and getting out the apron with a douchey graphic of a pig that read, ‘This Guy Rubs His Meat.’ He slipped it over his head. “I’d just rather wear this one than the one with boobs on it.”

“You can thank Alex for both of those.” Kara went back to the pantry to get more ingredients. Her studio apartment, while not terribly tiny, had popsicle supplies and ingredients stashed in every available space. “She was drunk shopping on Amazon. I’ll get a new one for your birthday, deal?”

“Deal.” Winn finished tying the apron and rested his elbows on the limited open space on the counter. “What are we making today?” 

Kara took out a knife, throwing a bag of dried lavender into the counter mess. “Lavender Lemonade, Tropical Green, and then I wanted to try two new ones.” Blowing stray hair out of her face, she opened up the binder to the latest insert and pointed. “Orange Hibiscus Sarsaparilla and Avocado Mint Chip.”

“Ambitious.” Winn nodded in approval. “Where should I start?”

“Honey simple syrup please.”

They fell into their usual rhythm, Winn turning on a nineties pop playlist and setting up a few box fans once the kitchen became stifling. The first two were finished pretty quickly, recipes Kara made weekly due to the popularity, Winn having helped on most occasions. The last two required a bit more testing, working through most of the bottle of wine to make the creative juices flow. 

“I added tangerine oil, taste this.” Kara looked up from her pot on the stove, holding the wooden spoon out to Winn. Once he took it, she moved aside, pushing her sweaty flyaways back and taking a gulp of wine. 

Burning himself on the first go, Winn managed a small taste. “Dude, Kara. So good.”

“Perfect.” Kara turned off the burner and put the pot in the refrigerator to cool. “Break time. Do you want pizza, I think I want pizza.”

Winn followed Kara to the couch, bringing the bottle of wine with him. “I want stuffed crust pizza and garlic bread. Shit, what time is it?”

“8:30, I don’t know.”

“We missed it!” Winn threw himself on the couch. 

“What?”

“Grey’s Anatomy!”

Kara tried her best to look sympathetic, taking another drink of wine. “Sorry pal.”

“I’ll stream it later, whatever. They’re doing this medical contest between the doctors, so every character is basically trying to out-innovate the others. The writers actually did research to make the projects actual up-and-coming things in the medical world. And,” Winn stopped. “Are you listening?”

“And simultaneously thinking of what pizza toppings I want, yes. Real life medical thingies, go on.”

Winn sighed but continued. “Anyway, one of the things is basically a cancer finding pen. It tests cells just by touching them and the precision is supposed to be hella accurate. It’s based off a prototype that Lena Luthor published earlier this year.”

“Who’s Lena Luthor?”

Topping off both their glasses, Winn scoffed. “CEO of L-Corp, she’s twenty-five and has a masters in biomedical engineering. She’s the youngest CEO of a Fortune 500 company, absolutely brilliant, the best thing that could have happened to the National City tech scene, hell, the world tech scene. Don’t you remember when the company moved here from Metropolis two years ago?”

Kara thought back. “Uh, vaguely.”

“ _And_ not only is she a genius, but she donates millions to different charities, usually involving kids. Real bleeding heart, unlike the rest of her asshole family. Oh, and she’s pretty hot too. Cheekbones could cut diamonds kind of hot.”

Three glasses of wine Kara was much more shallow than sober Kara and the mention of cheekbones is what finally piqued her interest. “Show me.”

“Oh, so that’s what will get you interested.” Winn pulled his phone out of his pocket. “Here.” He shoved the phone onto Kara’s lap. “Try not to drool on my screen.”

Bringing the phone to eye level, a very familiar face stared back at Kara. “Holy fuck.”

“I told you.”

“No, I _know_ her!”

Winn took his phone back. “You know Lena Luthor?”

Kara nodded, wine threatening to spill. “She’s Farmers Market Lena.”

“Holy fuck.” 

/////

The anxiety surrounding Saturday morning was high. Kara was ready for the usual, the heat, the number of people she would inevitably interact with, the explaining of her business, the rundown of flavor options and flavor profiles. But Lena. 

Lena’s status maybe made her the most nervous. She was important, her opinions mattered. As someone who graced national magazine covers and has given Ted Talks, Lena could probably Instagram a photo of Kara’s brand and double her sales. Lena had over 500,000 followers on the account, her last post an adorable photo from a Luthor Children’s Hospital event from a few weeks ago. Not that Kara would ever use Lena like that, she barely knew the woman, it was just fact. 

To be honest, Kara was interested well before she knew about the polarizing last name, the power and prestige. Cute, sleep-deprived, lesbian-Jesus sandal wearing Lena was intriguing enough. And she just wanted to see her again.

Alex had laughed when Kara had revealed her and Winn’s revelation, cackled actually. Sam had ended up professing her own girl crush on the CEO and Ruby had gasped, claiming she knew Lena had looked familiar, (apparently she had been featured in a TIME for Kids she had been shown in Social Studies.) And now, on the way down to the waterfront, Ruby had turned down the radio in favor of amping Kara up. 

“So if you see her, what are you going to say?”

“I’m going to talk to her like a normal person, what do you want me to say?” Kara asked turning up the air conditioning. 

“Aunt Kara, you have to put the moves on her.”

Kara laughed. “Please enlighten me as to what kind of ‘moves’ I need to be pulling.”

Ruby put her feet on the dash, rolling up her window to silence the wind whipping through the car. “Well you already put in contacts instead of wearing glasses and the romper was a good choice too. Really shows off your legs and color makes your eyes pop.”

“You’re killing me, Rubes.”

“Don’t act like I’m wrong, you put a little extra effort in to impress Lena, it’s okay.” Ruby moved on. “Anyway, you should offer to give her stuff for free again. That really got her going last week.”

They stopped at a red light, Kara banging her head lightly on the top of the steering wheel. “I can’t believe a twelve-year-old is giving me girl advice.” 

“You can’t get mad because I’m right. It’s not my fault I’m better at this than you and you’re twenty-six”

Kara lifted her head back up, hitting the gas as the light turned green. “I’m going to buy a popsicle costume and make you dance in front of the cart while wearing it.”

/////

The market was absolutely mobbed. Kara knew they had broken record attendance the previous week, but there was no doubt they were going to break it again. Even though she had restocked and made more than usual, Lavender Lemonade sold out three hours in. To her credit, Ruby was a trooper all morning, greeting most people with a smile and making quick change. 

Lena, true to her words, showed up around eleven, Jess at her side again. A complete 180 from the week prior, Lena’s hair was back in a tight ponytail, wearing cropped dress pants and a shirt that looked like it cost more than Kara’s monthly rent. Sunglasses masking her face, Kara’s bag was slung over her shoulder. 

Even with the steady stream of customers, Kara kept an eye on the pair, watching them go to the mushroom guys, wait far too long for pour-over coffee, and cycle through a sample line of tea-infused chocolate taste testing. 

Ruby saw them too, jabbing a pointy elbow into Kara’s side. “Your bae is coming this way.”

Casually reaching down to adjust her romper from getting eaten by her thighs, Kara watched as Lena and Jess neared the cart, legitimately wondering if she should greet with a ‘Hi,’ or a ‘Hello’? Of course, her brain had the shit ass thought of saying, ‘Howdy,’ an idea she self-nixed quickly enough. 

“Excuse me?”

Kara turned to see an impatient woman holding the hand of a preschool-aged child who was dressed like a twenty-something Instagram blogger. “How can I help you?”

“My daughter wants one of your popsicles and she has dietary restrictions and I have a few questions for you,” the woman began. 

From the tone of her voice, Kara knew there was no way this was a real-life allergy issue. The kid was eyeing up the cart in a way that told Kara that any dietary restrictions were mother-inflicted, not medical. She bet herself a six-pack of craft beer the kid’s name was Cilantro or Mackayleigh, or something equally as obnoxious. An overly-sweet smile plastered on her face anyway, she tried to sound genuinely interested. “Of course, what would you like to know?”

“First I was wondering if Artisan meant these were organic because I only allow Maebyn to eat organic foods. And beyond that, she is vegan as well as gluten-free.”

“All flavors that are completely organic are marked with an ‘o’ on the menu,” Kara pointed out, walking around to the front to show them. “I know it’s a little hard to see but most the of them are, I try to use as many organic ingredients as possible.”

“I’d like to see an ingredient list.”

“Mommy, I want a pink one,” Maebyn whined, struggling to get out of her mother’s grip. She seemed sweet, and Kara was still trying to figure out if her name justified spending fourteen dollars on six beers.

“Just a moment.” Kara went back around the cart to retrieve her binder, managing a small wave to Lena as Ruby handed her a box. “Here you go ma’am.” She flipped open to flavor summaries. “Allergens are listed as well for each, and there are no animal products or gluten in any of my blends.”

“Hmm…” The woman studied the page. “What about your facility? Are there other products made and what is the equipment sterilization standard?”

It was times like this that Kara wished it wasn’t frowned upon to tell a customer to shut the fuck up. She listened and graciously answered for the next five minutes, the woman ultimately deciding that is was too much sugar and walked away with a screaming and sobbing child. 

“You missed Lena,” Ruby pointed out as soon as Kara was back behind the cart. 

“Did I now?” Sarcasm dripped from Kara’s voice as she pulled out a popsicle for herself, ripping off the wrapper and going right in on it. 

“Don’t be so upset, I got you covered,” Ruby said, pulling out a five for a customer. 

“What did you do?”

“Nothing embarrassing, have a little faith, jeez.”

Kara wiped a spill off the counter. “So?”

“For starters, I told her we were _so_ happy she came back and I told her that her shirt looked nice. She bought a box and I told her to grab another one on the house. As expected, she totally tried to pay and ended up tipping instead. By the way, that fifty in the jar is for me and all my stellar work.”

Blowing out a breath of air, Kara considered it. “Depends on how you ended things.”

Ruby gave a knowing smile. “I told her I’d see her next week and that hopefully you wouldn’t be caught by some PTA bitch because you’d love to talk to her.”

Kara plucked the fifty dollar bill from the jar and handed it over. “All yours for a job well done, Rubes.” She grabbed her into a sweaty hug. “But you gotta stop saying ‘bitch,’ your mom will freak if she hears you.”

“I can just blame Alex.”

/////

The week went by painfully slow. There was a break in summer classes at National City University, meaning fewer students were on campus and Kara couldn’t benefit off the day drinking frat boys. Less popsicle selling meant more free time, and more free meant job searching. Kara was surviving off her popsicles sales and things were on the incline, but a side gig was in order so she didn’t have to live paycheck to paycheck. She had been working at a small cafe near her apartment, but they kept scheduling her on the weekends and she was giving away too many shifts. Alex had suggested bartending, but Kara had never seen herself as the type. Sam had suggested grad school, more business classes could certainly help her business. So her free time was spent half-heartedly looking at future options, recipe planning, popsicle making, with a sprinkle of wallowing. 

Saturday couldn’t come fast enough and sans Ruby, the morning seemed to drag on. The sky was overcast and a forecast of a thunderstorm had deterred most from coming down. Kara was still relatively busy without having the extra hands, her usuals coming by and practically every child that passed gave a go at convincing their parent for a treat. As the day progressed, Kara couldn’t help but be on the lookout for a certain CEO. A gust of wind made her shiver and she pulled her red and black flannel out to put on. Clouds were starting to roll in and with only an hour left open, people were starting to leave. 

Wiping down sticky drippings that had accumulated on the front of the cart, Kara saw her. She was without Jess, browsing past the local honey and stopping in front of a row of salsa samples. Kara tossed the used rag back onto one of her coolers, watching as a man approached Lena, reaching for her arm. 

What happened next seemed to happen instantly, but play out in slow motion at the same time. Lena was taken aback by the man’s greeting, it clearly not bring anyone she knew. She had no sooner taken her arm back when the man snatched one of the bowls of salsa, throwing the contents in Lena’s face. 

Kara barely processed what her body was doing, but she abandoned her cart, making a beeline for Mex-cellent. She wasn’t the only one, market personnel stepping in to stop the man, the aproned worker behind the salsa table grabbing a handful of napkins to hold out. 

With chunks of tomato, onion and various peppers in her hair, stuck to her brow, dripping from her chin, red juice spattered on her chest, Lena just blinked. Taking the napkins, she reached down her shirt to pull out a clump of salsa, wiping it from her hand. Kara was in close enough proximity to hear an unwavering, “Are you fucking kidding me?” escape her lips. 

Though restrained, the man retorted loudly. “You’re a monster. You, your entire family, you need to pay for what you’ve done!”

Kara could feel her blood boil and she moved in front of Lena, arms crossing across her chest, eyes blazing, voice firm. “Get away from her.”

“We’ve got it, Kara,” one of the market organizers, Joe, reassured. He had the main grip on the man, working on leading him towards to the exit.

Turning back to Lena, softness replaced stern in Kara’s voice. “Hey, are you okay?” She reached up to help brush bits out of her hair, a hand resting on her shoulder.

Lena nodded with a hard swallow, looking somewhat relieved at a familiar face. “You’re like my knight in shining armor here. I’m alright.” She rubbed at her eye. “Thank you for stepping in though, you didn’t have to do that.”

“Of course I did. That guy was a piece of shit. It doesn’t matter who your family is, you didn’t deserve that.”

“Thanks.”

Kara watched as she surveyed the mess on herself, brushing more tomato off her shirt. “I’ve got more napkins and an extra shirt by all my things, want some help cleaning up?”

Picking a piece of onion from her hair, Lena nodded. “That’d be great. God, you must think I’m such a disaster. It’s like I can’t avoid a scene when I come here.”

They started walking back towards Kara’s cart. “Well, I’d hardly call you trying to walk around without a bag a scene.”

“No Ruby?” Lena asked as Kara pulled her behind the cart to sit. She kept blinking, scrunching up her right eye.

Kara grabbed a stack of napkins, opening up one of her coolers to retrieve a bottle of water. “Getting over a case of strep. Sam was going to make her come, her mom, but I guess she puked this morning so she kept her home.”

“Probably a good idea.” Lena rubbed at her eyes again. “Oh fuck.” She squeezed both shut, palm pressing into her right eye. 

“What?”

“Nothing, I’m good.” Lena accepted the offered napkins, looking decidedly not good. Not as fully open as the left, her right eye was bloodshot and watery. 

Kara didn’t push it, simply letting Lena clean herself off, wetting a few napkins with the water bottle to help further. 

Damp and rubbed red in a few places, Lena was mostly salsa free in a few minutes save for the stain down the front of her shirt. She had shut her right eye about halfway through, going about wiping herself down like an adorable pirate. But as Kara took the used napkins to throw away, her face twisted in pain again, palm going back to her eye. 

Dumping the used paper in her trash bag and tying it up, Kara sank down onto the cooler beside Lena. “Did you get pepper in your eye?”

“What gave you that idea?” Lena sniffed, hand catching the uncontrollable tears gathering in her reddening eye. 

“I’m not trying to state the obvious but speaking as somebody who has made the mistake of not washing their hands after chopping a jalapeno and tried to put contacts in, I know rubbing at it isn’t going to help,” Kara said. She really was speaking from experience, she had to throw her contacts out and scrub her hands with a mixture of olive oil and dish soap. 

Shoulders slumping, Lena glanced over, hand covering half her face. “I’m sorry, you’re being insanely kind, I just- this really fucking hurts.”

Though masked well, Kara picked up on a slight tremble in Lena’s voice at the end of her sentence. “Capsaicin is a bitch,” she sympathized. “Want me to help you try and flush it out? By that I mean I’m literally going to dump water on you but it might stop the burning.”

This got a smile out of Lena. “Please.”

Springing back to her feet, Kara got another bottle of water out, unscrewing the cap. Standing next to Lena, she pushed salsa-sticky hair out of her face. “I’m going to tilt your head back, okay?” As soon as she got the ‘go-ahead’ nod, she gently moved her head, moving Lena’s hand off and then putting her own hand to take some of the pressure off her neck muscles. Tipping the water bottle, she let a bit splash over Lena’s eye. 

Lena jerked away initially, the sudden liquid shocking even though she knew it was coming. “Sorry, keep going.” 

“You’re fine.” Kara waited until Lena settled back against her hand before pouring more. She grabbed more napkins, trying to contain the dripping from ruining more of Lena’s outfit with little luck. The shoulder of Lena’s shirt was inevitably soaked, Kara soon giving up on the drying process. The water flushing did seem to be working though, Lena’s eye blinking less, staying open longer. Kara paused when the water bottle was empty. “Feel a little better?”

Shoulders shrugging, Lena sat up. “Kind of.” She blinked for a moment before her eyes screwed shut again. “No.”

“Shit.” Kara put a hand to her head, trying to think for a moment. What was one supposed to do with a cute billionaire who most likely had habanero pepper in her eye because of some jackass? She needed milk. “Do you mind waiting here for a minute?” she asked. “I’m going to get something to help.” She could only offer a sympathetic smile before hurrying over to the cheese table at the next row over. They were a dairy farm, they had to have milk. Sometimes, being ‘The Popsicle Girl’ helped and thankfully, the guys at Legen-Dairy were frequent customers. After supplying her with a clean rag, a bottle of whole milk and some heavy cream, they loaded Kara down with some free cheese samples to share with her ‘injured lady friend.’ Their words, not hers. Lena was where she had left her, hunched on a cooler. She had taken another water out, pressing it to the affected area. Kara held up her new goods. “Want to give this a try?”

“You are not dumping that on my face.”

Kara had to laugh. “I would never. That’s what this is for.” She showed the rag. “Just pour some on here and do it like a compress. Do you mind if I start getting some of this stuff back into the van? I’m not planning on selling anymore today.” The market had cleared out, closing time only minutes away. 

Lena took the milk and rag with a nod. “Don’t let me stop you.”

“That should really help,” Kara promised as she lowered the cart umbrella. “Oh, and when your eye stops burning, you are definitely helping me eat this cheese. I have a popsicle that will be perfect with it.”

Lena looked skeptical, wetting the rag and sticking it against her face, the instant relief obvious as her hunched shoulders relaxed. “What kind of popsicle goes with cheese?”

“A chocolate dipped red wine one.”

/////

While Lena tended to her eye, Kara was able to properly take down the stand, loading everything into the van, conveniently parked just behind them. She had actually gotten to the market early enough for a prime parking spot and she was happy to continue chatting with Lena as she strategically fit her coolers and her cart into the back of the van. 

Lena had gone through all of the milk and some of the heavy cream before she decided it was enough, putting everything down as Kara finished up. “How does it look?”

“Your eye?” Kara asked. 

“Uh-huh.”

Kara rubbed at her forehead with the sleeve of her flannel. It had taken lifting three things to make her sweat, it wasn’t her best look. Breathing out, she stepped closer, studying Lena’s face. “Hm…” The entire right side of Lena’s face was irritated, under eye and eyelid puffed up and pink. Her actual eye was still extremely bloodshot and watery, but open and unwavering. And so green. And blue. 

“Kara?”

“Sorry. You look beautiful,” Kara flashed a grin, giving herself a mental pat on the back for her smooth flirtation skills.

Lena stood up, taking a quick look at her reflection in the car window. “Liar.” She wrung out the towel and folded it neatly atop one of the coolers in the open trunk. “Now, I think I was promised a wine popsicle.”

“And a new shirt,” Kara remembered. After snagging the extra t-shirt from the front seat, she climbed through the Tetris packed car to the trunk, sitting on the edge and patting the spot next to her. 

Sinking down next to Kara, Lena took the shirt, holding it for a moment. “If I haven’t said it enough yet, thank you. For standing up for me, for the water and everything, god for the other week with the bag. I promise I’ll be less of a mess the next time I come here.”

“So you’re coming back?” Kara pressed, pulling out two of the red wine popsicles. “After all this?”

“Well, how else would I get to see you.”

Lena said it so matter-of-factly Kara was almost taken aback. Miss Powerful CEO openly admitting she came to the noisy, public market on Saturday mornings to see _her_? Before Kara could fully process, Lena chose that moment to change her shirt. The polite eye aversion didn’t happen soon enough, Kara catching a flash of pale stomach and black lace, the tee fitting a little snug in the chest. Kara wasn’t staring like a creep, but she was, for lack of any better terms, a boob girl. And Lena had nice boobs. 

“So,” Lena cleared her throat, her face a little red beyond the hot pepper damage. “Let’s see if this popsicle lives up to the standards of its description.” She tore off the wrapping, stopping her words with a taste. 

Kara took her wrapper off as well, fully confident in what Lena’s response would be. Not that she didn’t tend to give off a cocky demeanor in her everyday life, but she knew it was going to be good. Boozy popsicles had always been on her radar and testing on red wine had been in the works for a while. And it was perfect. 

“Oh fuck.” Lena’s hand went to her mouth like she hadn’t meant the words to come out. “What is in this?”

“Merlot.” Kara put the paper plate of cheese samples she had acquired between them. “Little bit of amarena cherry juice, coconut milk, pink peppercorn, cloves, cardamom, and allspice.” She paused for effect. “And then, of course, I dipped half in melted dark chocolate and coconut oil.”

“These should be illegal,” Lena nearly moaned. “I don’t even eat desserts usually.”

Laughing, Kara reached for a piece of cheese. “I’m glad you like it.”

“What kind of cheese did they give you?” Lena asked, turning her attention to the plate as well.

“Um,” Kara looked around the plate, “there’s cheddar, manchego, a smoked gouda, peppered parmesan, oh and I think that’s a habanero muenster, you might want to stay away from that.”

Lena picked a piece of gouda. “You know I really do like hot food, but I think spice and I are in a fight right now.”

“I don’t blame you,” Kara said, cracking a bit of chocolate off the side of her popsicle. “I still can’t believe that douche-bag threw salsa on you. Like, who does that?”

“Comes with the Luthor name.” Lena leaned against the side of the van. “I can’t deny the awful things my brother did and with him in jail, people want someone palpable to blame. Not that I like it, but I can see it from their perspective, I’m their scapegoat.”

“Doesn’t make it right.”

Lena was quiet for a moment, mouth on her popsicle. “Can I ask you something?”

Kara straightened up. “Sure.”

“Did you know who I was right away? I don’t mean to come off as this sort of celebrity that you should know the face of, but I just…” She kept her gaze from Kara. “People can just have preconceived notions about me and you were so nice but you kind of came out of nowhere and…”

“No.” Kara interrupted. “Sorry for cutting you off but, no. I mean, I figured it out later, but two weeks ago, no clue.”

“So when you stopped and gave me the bag…”

“I was just helping out a cute, struggling market patron. Doing my civic duty.” Kara popped a piece of cheese into her mouth, trying to gloss over the fact that she had just called Lena ‘cute’ to her face. She decided on jokes. “Want to hear a good cheese pun?”

“Go for it.”

“What cheese can be used to hide a horse?” Kara waited as Lena shrugged, unable to verbalize because of the popsicle. “Mascarpone.” 

Lena’s eyes crinkled, licking around her lips. “Is that the best you have?”

Feigning hurt, Kara put a hand to her chest. “Of course I have more. What kind of cheese do you use to coax a bear out of its cave?”

A smirk played up on Lena’s face, an eyebrow quirking. “What?”

“Camembert.” 

Lena let out a laugh this time, head shaking. “You’re unbelievable.” 

Leaning in, Kara put on a serious face. “You mean, un-brie-lievable.”

To that, Lena snorted, a hand going to wipe the sides of her mouth. “Oh my god.” She looked down at her wrist to watch that wasn’t there. “What time is it?”

“Little after one.”

Lena clicked her phone into life, squinting a bit at the screen. “I have this meeting on Monday I have to prepare for. I wanted to get most of it done today so I could have some semblance of a weekend tomorrow, I’m sorry.”

“No, you’re fine.” Kara stood up. “You’re not um, you’re not planning on driving right now, are you?” Watching Lena try to decipher things on her phone screen did not up Kara’s confidence in her driving skills. 

“I…” Lena gave up on the phone. “No, I was going to call my driver.” She made a face. “I know that sounds pretentious and awful I just didn’t want to deal with parking on my own, plus I don’t really like driving and…”

Kara held up a hand to stop her. “No need to explain to me. But you should let me give you a ride home.”

Lena bit down on her lip. “It’s okay, you’ve done enough for me today, I’m sure you just want to get home, get on with your day.”

“It’s so sweet you think I have more important things to do.” Kara smiled. “You can pay me back with coffee, tomorrow.”

Surprise crossed Lena’s face first, softening into a smile as well. “Well, I can’t say no to that.”

“Valentine’s at ten work?” Kara suggested, picking her favorite cafe. “The one on Oakville.”

“Works for me.”

Kara hopped off the edge of the trunk, waiting for Lena to do the same so she could shut it. “Let’s blow this popsicle stand.”

/////

Under Lena’s direction, Kara ended up dropping her off at L-Corp instead of her apartment, promising there was a shower and a change of clothes in her office and that she wouldn’t be spending the rest of the day uncomfortable. She left after sticking her head back in the passenger window, repeating the time and location of their coffee meet up and telling Kara she’d see her tomorrow.

Kara made sure to wait until Lena was inside the building and her window was fully rolled back up before letting out an, “Oh my god!” She zipped through traffic to go drop off the van, clunking her things down in the garage with less care than usual. When she nearly ripped the patio door off its track, she was met with three pairs of eyes in an array of ‘what the fuck’ expressions as she busted into the living room. Sam, Ruby, and Alex were all curled up on the couch, movie playing on screen and Ruby looking pale and exhausted. 

“What the hell is up with you?” Alex asked, gently taking Ruby’s legs off her lap.

Kara tried controlling her volume, not able to stop the dopey grin on her face. “Guess who’s getting coffee with Lena Luthor in the morning?!”


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> THE coffee date.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm not dead but OH MY GOD did I have writers block. (I have like 47 other excuses but I will spare you all)
> 
> Thank you to everyone that has been reviewing and hitting me up on Tumblr and overall being the SWEETEST. It really makes me smile.
> 
> ANYWAYS. It's a bit short but there's more to come with these awkward babes. PROMISE.

Jess stood, arms folded. “You are supposed to text me 911 for emergencies and emergencies only.”

Face buried in the couch cushion, Lena groaned. “This _is_ an emergency.”

“You’re getting coffee, you’re not getting married.” Jess forced Lena into a sitting position and sat in the opened up space on the couch. “What is wrong with you?”

Lena rubbed a temple. “It’s raining and my hair is frizzing. My stomach feels like it’s full of behemoth butterflies and,” she let out an unsavory belch, “I keep burping, it’s disgusting.” 

Jess surveyed the room before picking up an empty can from the coffee table. “What is this?”

“I don’t know, it’s a new product some company is testing and they sent me samples.”

Checking the label, Jess pointed at the fine print. “It’s sparkling tea. Of course you’re burping, it’s carbonated, genius. Why are you even drinking this? What time did you get up? I thought you worked late yesterday.”

Lena face planted back down and into a throw pillow. “I was up at five because I couldn’t sleep and I don’t know, it was in my fridge and I am _stressed_!”

Grabbing onto Lena’s shoulders, Jess pulled her up again and made her look her in the eye. “Okay, listen honey,” she started seriously. “You are going for casual coffee with a sweet girl and you are going to be _fine_. Now I want you to stand up, go to the bathroom and burp it out or whatever and get me a comb and some argan oil. I’m going to braid your hair and then we can take care of the outfit situation.”

Face morphed into a petulant pout, Lena did as instructed, dragging her feet to her bathroom. She took longer than necessary, putting on two different colors of lipstick before deciding on a tinted chapstick. Stomach still swirling a bit, she went back out to find Jess leaning against the refrigerator, putting a dent in her leftover cauliflower mashed potatoes from the night before. “Seriously?”

Taking a monster bite before putting the container back in the fridge, Jess spoke through a full mouth. “You texted me 911, I was sleeping. So yes, seriously. Go sit in front of the couch.”

Lena plopped herself down, knees going to her chest as she placed the comb and small bottle of oil on the coffee table. “I’m not good at this.”

“What, socializing?” Jess teased, taking a seat on the couch behind her, planting her legs on either side. 

Lena snaked a hand back and found a hunk of Jess’ calf, pinching. 

“I’m sorry, you’re an incredible social butterfly.” Jess put the comb between her teeth as she squeezed a bit of oil onto her hands and began working it into the tips of Lena’s hair, slowly moving her way up. 

“What if I just didn’t go?” Lena asked quietly as Jess tilted her head back to start the braid. 

Separating Lena’s hair with the comb, Jess gave a small hum. “And what excuse would you give?”

Lena shrugged, wincing as Jess’ fingers raked through a snarl. “I don’t have her number.”

“So you would just stand her up, that might be the most Luthor thing you’d do in your entire life.”

Jess knew exactly which buttons to push and Lena’s teeth sank into the inside of her cheek, biting back an unprocessed response. She focused on the rug instead, pulling at a loose string. 

“Lena.”

“I’m not going to ghost her, I just…” Lena’s comeback died before it started. 

“Of course, how would you show your face at the farmer’s market again? It’s like your new favorite place.” Jess finished off the braid quickly, smoothing it down and tying it off before dropping herself down to the floor as well. “From what I’ve seen and from what you told me about yesterday, Kara likes you. And whether it be in a romantic capacity or not, I think she would be a good person to have in your life.”

“Yeah?”

“Mmhmm.” Jess pulled Lena into a side hug. “You would regret not going. And guess what?”

“What?” Lena mumbled into Jess’ shoulder. 

“There’s no way she’s going to be able to resist you once I get you dressed properly. Stand the fuck up and walk to your closet. You are not wearing a fucking _pantsuit_ to coffee.”

/////

Lena got to Valentine early. She was always early. Anything after fifteen minutes before the scheduled time felt like being late. Kara clearly did not run on the same clock, Lena left standing under the cafe overhang after her driver dropped her off. She was the only one outside, though surrounded by patio chairs and tables. The weather had cooled down even more, a steady rain had been going since the early morning. It was chilly enough for a sweater, Jess picking out the giant, overpriced, authentic Aran sweater Lena had stress-bought after the Contiko Tech acquisition. She pulled the sleeve of it over her hand, rubbing a knuckle into her temple. A popped Excedrin during Jess’ fashion consultant earlier was slowly but surely ebbing away her small but annoying headache that she’d had since the night before. After getting dropped back at L-Corp, showering and telling Jess what had happened via FaceTime, she had sat in front of her laptop for six hours straight. She had compiled all of her research and testing notes into a coherent overview to pitch to the board and had wrapped up the seemingly never-ending email thread with a development team in Norway about a potential new project. Reviewing the weekly schedule Jess had sent over on Friday, it was after ten when she glanced up long enough to realize the jogging figure coming down the block was Kara. 

With a canvas tote raised over her head, Kara heaved a sigh of relief when she reached the covered front of the cafe, arms lowering. “I didn’t know it was supposed to rain today!” She pulled open the door, ushering Lena in. “Sorry for being a few minutes late, it took me a while to find these boots.” She gestured down her to clunky, polka-dotted rain boots. 

For all Lena had stressed about her own outfit, Kara was clad simply in a pair of spandex leggings, a cropped tee with ‘pas de garcons’ written across the front and a thin cardigan that couldn’t seem to stay on her shoulders, no matter the muscles that realistically should have been keeping it in place. Pulling at her own sweater sleeve, Lena waited until Kara was fully in behind her. “You don’t own an umbrella?” 

Scaping the elastic from her wrist with her teeth, Kara held it in her mouth as she piled the damp, slightly frizzed hair into a bun before tying it off. “Nope, well, I have the one for the popsicle cart but I think I’d catch some weird looks carrying that around.”

Lena smiled at the thought of Kara lugging the rainbow-colored umbrella down the street. “At least you’d be dry.”

“Fair point.” Kara grinned back. “Anyways, hi, good morning, nice to see you outside of the market. How’s the eye?”

Nerves of earlier hours went away, Lena’s shoulders relaxing, fists unclenching. “Little rough staring at a computer screen all last night but I think I’m back to normal now,” she answered honestly. 

“Oh good, I was afraid I was going to have to read the menu to you.” Kara gestured up at the large chalkboard above the register. “Do you know what you want?” She stepped aside to let a couple past them. “You guys can go ahead, we’re not ready yet.”

Lena looked up at the board, scanning all the different bean origins, the extensive tea list, and the different coffee drinks. She was usually a two-shots of espresso in the morning and no caffeine for the rest of the day kind of girl, but her usual seemed boring. “What are you getting?”

“Dulce de leche latte,” Kara said, face a little sheepish. “I know it sounds like a cup of sugar but it’s not that sweet.”

“No, that sounds good.” Lena found the flavored lattes on the menu, Vanilla, Cardamom, Mocha, stopping at Matcha. “I think I know what I want.” She followed Kara’s eyes to the bakery display. “Feel free to get something to eat too, it is my treat.”

Kara tore her gaze from the pastries, letting out a small laugh and placing a hand on Lena’s shoulder. “Ah yes, I gave you milk to put on your face so now you’re my sugar mama.”

An embarrassing blush rose to Lena’s cheeks. “Just for the morning.”

“Well then we’re definitely getting a muffin,” Kara decided, hand staying on Lena’s shoulder as they stepped forward in line. 

They ordered their drinks, Lena deciding on a Matcha latte with macadamia milk. The cashier scribbled their drinks down on a laminated piece of paper, grabbing a piece of wax paper to pull out the Carrot-Apple muffin Kara had selected. Lena passed over her credit card, watching the boy do a noticeable double take when he saw the name ‘Luthor’ in raised etching. He ran the charge silently and gave it back with a tight-lipped smile, eyes giving away his true feelings. Signing quickly, Lena penned in a gracious tip, regardless of the kid’s reaction. It never really got easier, the nervous or terrified looks, the snide comments, and personal digs. She tucked her head down as Kara weaved them back to an empty booth, sitting down on her side with a sigh. 

“Are people always like that?” Kara asked, having noticed the cashier’s behavior.

“Not always,” Lena began, “sometimes they don’t recognize me.” 

Pulling the wrapper off the muffin between them, Kara offered a sympathetic look. “I’m sorry.”

“You haven’t done anything wrong,” Lena said with a shrug. “I’ve learned that I can’t control what other people do but I can control how I act and interact. I just hope they don’t spit in our drinks.”

Kara tore off a bit of the muffin top, chewing on it thoughtfully, bringing a foot up to rest on the seat, knee drawn to her chest. “I think the kid at the register is new, most of the baristas here are really chill. I come here all the time.” She reached a hand out to Lena’s arm. “You need to try this muffin, it’s so good.” 

Grateful for the change in topic, Lena popped the offered bit into her mouth. “Delicious.”

Kara's face scrunched into a smile. “You’re cute.”

“What?”

“You close your eyes whenever you try new food, like you full-on experience it,” Kara explained nonchalantly. “It’s cute.”

Wiping a crumb from the corner of her mouth, Lena felt her lips turn up. “I didn’t realize I did that.”

“You do.” Kara took another chomp down on the muffin, barely chewing and swallowing before her eyes widened and she whipped her phone out. “Oh!” She swiped it open and started typing quickly. 

Lena watched on in amusement as Kara bit down on her lip in concentration, cardigan falling further to reveal more tanned shoulder. She waited to speak until Kara looked up again, raising a brow. “Forget about something?”

“Gosh no, it’s just,” Kara showed her the phone screen, “a new recipe idea. Carrot-apple-ginger. I have to write it down right away otherwise I won’t remember.”

“How many brilliant ideas have been lost to the wind?”

Kara put the phone down. “Not too many, I caught on to the whole, ‘write it down immediately’ thing pretty fast. There was one, I think I was in a movie theater or something and I can’t for the life of me remember what it was. Something to do with guava and quince.”

“How do you even think of all the flavor combinations?” Lena asked genuinely, breaking off another piece of muffin. 

Eyes lighting up, Kara launched into her explanation, wanting to follow in the family footsteps of becoming a scientist but struggling to find any passion until she discovered food science. She had studied the chemistry of it all, absolutely loving the creative aspects. Forgoing the usual track of getting a Masters degree after graduation, Kara had turned to starting up her own business instead. Lena only spurred the conversation on with nods and the occasional, ‘mmhmm’. She had no issue in letting Kara continue to rant about how cool the molecular breakdown of taste was. As someone who had spent the majority life being patronized for being too smart, (by peers,) and not being smart enough, (by her delight of a mother,) Lena was enthralled at Kara’s complete exuberance for what most deemed ‘nerdy’ and ‘boring’. And quite honestly, it was kind of hot. 

Recrossing her legs to stop the impending doom of her foot falling asleep, Lena propped her elbow on the table, chin resting in her hand. She really couldn’t believe how smoothly everything was going. She had been an absolute mess all morning, Jess only receiving a small taste of her inner anxiety. Yes, she was a grown woman, a damn good CEO and had enough tact, composure, and confidence to shut up a boardroom full of entitled, white guys. But she could also count her current friends with one hand and had a last name that made people want to throw salsa in her face. So, while she hated labeling herself as socially awkward, she kind of was. And here was Kara, this radiant, kind-hearted, absolutely beautiful whirlwind of a human, choosing to spend time with her. It was a welcome change, and though she didn’t want to jinx it, there had to be some mental pat on the back for not fucking it up right off the bat.

Kara took a break to gulp down a bit of her latte, their drinks having been dropped off sometime during her tirade about the underappreciation of botanicals. “That was an obscenely long answer to your question, sorry.”

“No, no, I don’t mind.” Lena took a sip of her drink as well, the caffeine buzz starting to kick in. 

“How’s the matcha?”

“Amazing.” Lena held the mug out. “Want to try?” She let Kara take a taste, hand awaiting the return. “Good right?”

“Definitely lives up to the craze.” Kara wiped at the foamy green on her upper lip. “I always forget how vegetal the taste is.”

Latte back in hand, Lena went in for another drink, going on the opposite side of Kara’s sticky chapstick imprint. “I feel like you’d be all over matcha. No popsicles?”

Kara shrugged. “Had an ex that was super obsessed with it. Like she would make a big fuss about only getting single blend cultivars from a certain prefecture in Japan. Kind of turned me off the stuff.”

Trying not to let the little factoid that Kara had dated women faze her, Lena nodded, watching as Kara hummed, shoulders moving slightly to the background Modern English song. She let the moment stay quiet, setting her mug down, finger toying with the bottom of her braid. 

“French braids are always so hard to do yourself,” Kara said finally, breaking first.

“I didn’t,” Lena gave a side glance to her tightly twisted hair. “Do it, I mean. This was all Jess, I can barely manage a decent ponytail alone.” 

“Did you and Jess have a sleepover?”

“No, she- Jess was over this morning.”

Kara looked taken aback. “Why so early? I literally woke up five minutes before leaving to meet you.”

With a drawn-out breath, Lena settled on the truth, embarrassing as it was. “I may have made her come over because I was a little nervous about coming to see you.” 

“Moi?” Kara looked more shocked than before, leg dropping down to the floor. “What’s so intimidating about a popsicle stand owner? You’re the child genius, chess prodigy, MIT at 15, CEO of an amazing company, and you can pull off a pair of Birkenstocks.” 

“Where’d you hear all that?” Lena asked, already knowing the answer. All it took was a quick internet search to find out most things. Not that it was hard to find basic facts on most people due to social media, but she had an Instagram _and_ she was a Luthor. She tried her best not to venture more into the social apps than that, she liked some semblance of privacy, (the Tinder a very short-lived phase that only started because of incessant Jess pressuring.) “You stalking me?”

“I only googled you long enough to find your Instagram. Beautiful aesthetic though I’m not sure why you posted a close up of all the kale you bought at the market last week and not one of my popsicles.”

Lena nearly spat out her drink at the bluntness, swallowing quickly to avoid choking. “I’m sorry.” She had intended on posting something about Kara and her cart but had completely chickened out. “Next time. Now about those Birkenstocks. First of all, they’re Jess’.”

/////

The muffin became crumbs between them, mugs draining of lattes, their conversation not slowing. Kara’s phone eventually buzzed, the vibrating sound amplified by the metal table. Peering at the screen, Kara sighed. “It’s my sister, I really should, I’m sorry, hold on.” She swiped the screen, tucking the phone up to her ear. “Alex, what? Now? It’s… okay, you need to relax, it is not that late. I still don’t understand why you’re making me come over in the first place, Ruby has friends.” Kara paused, mouthing another ‘sorry’ to Lena. “None of them can have sleepovers because their parents work? You and Sam have jobs. She shook her head at whatever was said next. “Okay, the being sick yesterday excuse I will take but I still can’t fucking believe you are making me babysit so you and Sam can spend the night at a hotel to have sex.” Another pause. “Yeah, I am. You owe me. Yeah, yeah, love you too, see you soon.” She ended the call. “I am so sorry you had to hear that.”

“That your cue to go?”

Kara nodded, pushing up her glasses and pulling up the cardigan _again_. “It’s a real thing, I promise. I had told, well, I guess you heard. I’m sorry, I totally forgot. I didn’t think we were going to be here so long.”

“Speak for yourself, I cleared my entire day for this,” Lena joked lamely, earning a crinkly smile from Kara. 

“We should do this again,” Kara said, standing up. “Hang out outside the market I mean. Not as a favor, for real.”

“I’d like that,” Lena grabbed her purse. “For real.”

Kara held her phone out, contacts page up. “Put your number in and I can text you.”

Doing as she was told, Lena entered her number, taking longer to put in her name. She had typed her full name out, backspaced ‘Luthor’ and replaced it with a chili pepper emoji and the smiley wearing sunglasses before handing the phone back.

“We could grab lunch sometime, or whatever you feel like,” Kara said, a lopsided smirk poking out as she saw how Lena had labeled herself.

“Well, you have my number now. And if all else fails, you know where to find me.” Kara’s eyebrow quirked in slight confusion, Lena standing up as well. “Big, tall building downtown. My name’s on the side.”

They walked out together, rain having finally subsided. Kara held the door, letting Lena out first, taking a deep breath as soon as she stepped out on the still wet pavement. “Smells like worms.” Her cardigan fell off her shoulders completely, hanging at the slight bend in her elbows. 

Lena’s eyebrows raised in amusement, the absolute nonsense that dropped out of Kara’s mouth regularly never failing to make her want to laugh. Even though she hadn’t known her long, Kara’s lack of a filter was very apparent, she was definitely not a think-then-speak kind of person. 

Phone lighting up in her head, Kara groaned. “It’s Alex, _again_. I’ll text you, okay?”

Before Lena could even respond, she was pulled into a hug, Kara’s hands clasped and squeezing tightly behind her back. 

Kara drew away, rubbing a hand down Lena’s arm. “Bye.” And she was off. 

Lena stood in a bit of a daze with the lingering feeling of Kara’s hug and the woodsy, almost smoky vanilla scent of her perfume. A few hours at a coffee shop and she was absolutely done for. Warmth pooled in her stomach as she watched Kara traipse back down that street chattering away at Alex. The morning had flown by all she could think about was how it hadn’t been enough, she could spend all day with Kara. She barely felt the buzz of her own phone in her pocket. Noticing eventually, Jess’ name on the screen, she swiped open the call. “What?”

“Are you still with her or are you done? I need details!”

As Kara disappeared around the corner, Lena’s head dropped back, eye squinting at the sun finally peeking through the gray. “I’m fucked, Jessica. I am so, so fucked.”


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi, it's been a hot sec! SOMEONE (me) thought they had their shit together and then I got a promotion at work and now I travel and have different hours and IT HAS BEEN AN ADJUSTMENT. But it is Winter Farmer's Market season (aka where I got THE inspo for this AU) so, ENJOY.
> 
> And, as always, let me know what you think!!

“C’mon Alex, we’re a block away.” Kara was basically sashaying down the sidewalk, trying to slow down enough to stay in pace with her sister. “We don’t have to lift for that long either. I just want to do arms and then maybe a little abs.”

Alex wiped down her face with the collar of her t-shirt, begrudgingly going just a bit faster. “You’re not normal, you know?” she huffed. 

“It’s called being in shape.” Kara fell back into a jog. 

“We’re at the end of a five-mile run. You’re not even breathing hard.”

Kara ignored her. “Finish fast.” She took off sprinting, closing the distance to the gym doors. 

Hands behind her head to help catch her breath, Alex let Kara pull open the glass doors when she caught up. “I need water.”

They crossed through the second set of doors and headed for the water cooler. Kara filled up two plastic cups, handing one over. She downed her own quickly and went immediately for a refill. “Let me know when you’re ready.”

“Wait until I’m not on the verge of an asthma attack,” Alex mumbled around the cup. “Jesus Christ.”

Antsy to keep moving, Kara redid her ponytail as she waited, drank another half cup of water and pulled each arm across her chest to stretch out her shoulders. She gave Alex an expectant glance after another minute or so. 

“Stop staring at me and go take a lap. God, I’m tired. You know, I actually work all week.” 

“Yeah, and I just sat around twiddling my thumbs.” Kara’s eyes narrowed. “Really, Alex?”

Realizing the nerve she had struck, Alex pushed back the hair in front of her face with a sigh. “I didn’t mean it like that.”

“I’m finding hard to see what other way you could mean it. What do you want me to do, write an apology letter because I make popsicles instead of sitting at a fucking desk all day?”

“Kara…”

An ache lodged in Kara’s throat. One always did when the topic came up. She swallowed hard. “Whatever, let’s just workout.”

Finishing her cup, Alex took the hint to drop it all, following as Kara stalked over to the weights section. There was a solid five minutes of silence, the two of them working through a set of bicep curls and deadlifts, Alex finally having enough after the third time Kara clanked the weighted plates doing lat pull-downs. “Are you seriously mad at me right now?”

“No.” Kara finished her set, letting the bar back up gently. “Kettlebells next.”

Alex followed Kara away from the machines. She grabbed the forty pound weight for Kara, opting for a gentler twenty-five for herself. “Are you okay on rent this month?”

“Yup.” Kara began her set, teeth clenching as Alex had apparently _not_ taken the hint. “How many reps do you want to do?” She kept her focus on her stance, eyes trained on her reflection to make sure her back stayed straight and her knees didn’t bend over her toes.

“Fifteen.” Alex blew the hair from her eyes, muscles shaking as she swung the bell up. “Or twelve.”

“I’m doing fifteen.” Kara powered through hers, form intact, finishing before Alex despite the extra swings. “I’m going to leg press while I wait,” she said, already picking up the 35-pound plate from the rack.

Bringing her weight down heavily, Alex blew out a breath. “What happened to just arms and a little abs?”

Kara sat at the machine, unlocking from the stationary position and pressing her legs straight. “I changed my mind.”

They finished working out in silence, Alex too busy sucking wind. Kara, desperate to shake the feeling of the earlier conversation, pushed through barbell squats, an 8-minute ab routine, and four, minute-long sets with the rope pull-down machine. Alex refrained from the rope, nursing another cup of water and half-assing a few stretches while Kara attempted to beat out her emotions.

It didn’t seem to work, burning and shaking muscles the only result. Whatever endorphin buzz Kara had been hoping for was squashed by fatigue. After showering, she let Alex drive, not attempting to steal the keys with the usual quip. Besides okaying the decision to go back the house, she stayed quiet, head resting against the window.

“Sam texted me. Her and Ruby went to get groceries,” Alex explained, dropping her gym bag as they walked in. “Will you have some smoothie if I make one?”

“Sure.” Kara left Alex to drinks and left to plop down on the couch and turn on the TV. 

Alex joined shortly after, setting the glasses on the coffee table, goopy brown mixtures of greens and berries, and dropping next to her sister. “Baseball should be on.” She pointed as Kara scrolled through the guide, the National City Tritons game coming up. “Did it work?”

“What?” Kara took a sip.

“Did you exercise away your feelings?” Alex leaned back. “You only get that intense when you’re trying to forget about something.”

“Not really,” Kara relented, Alex always able to read her moods. 

“Are you going to tell me what’s bothering you, or would you like me to take a guess?”

Stopping midway through another gulp of smoothie, Kara nodded. “Go for it.”

“Mom called you this morning.”

Everything Kara had been pushing down bubbled back up with Alex’s correct guess. “How did you know?”

“Because she called me too.” Alex propped her feet up on the table. “And she usually calls us in pairs. I’m guessing your call didn’t go so well.”

Facade cracking, Kara’s shoulders slumped. “I don’t know.”

Alex softened. “What’s going on?”

“It’s just,” Kara gave a sigh before launching into it. “She can’t have a normal conversation with me. It’s impossible. She never tells me about the weird patient she had at the clinic or that Dad was trying to clear the gutters himself again.”

“He didn’t this time,” Alex cut in. “She finally got him to call a professional.”

“And I didn’t know because she never talks about that stuff.” The ache returned to Kara’s throat, one she couldn’t stop, hot tears blurring her vision and nose threatening to run. “All she…” She rubbed at her eyes, sniffing. “All she does is question about my future, my goals, my financial situation.”

“Kara...”

“I just want to scream sometimes. I know she loves me, I know she thinks she’s being helpful. But it really just makes me feel like shit.” Kara’s voice shook, unable to stop a small sob. “I like what I do. I like being creative and getting to meet people. I don’t care about how much money I make or how people view my profession.”

Alex adjusted to let Kara lean into her, wrapping her arms around in a hug. “I know. So why do you let Mom bother you so much?”

Kara failed to fight off another sob. “I want her to be proud of me.” 

Pressing a kiss into Kara’s damp hair, Alex hugged tighter, repeating, “I know. I’m sorry for bringing everything up at the gym too. I could just tell you were off. Still a dick move though.”

“Yeah, it was,” Kara’s voice cracked again. It was a few minutes before she detached her head from Alex’s shoulder and wiped at her eyes. “I hate crying.”

“It is always a little unnerving when you’re not all sunshine and rainbows,” Alex agreed, moving to thread comforting fingers through Kara’s hair. “I’m supposed to be the moody sister. Angst is my thing.”

“Miss super smart medical researcher, with the awesome girlfriend slash almost wife and sweet kid. What do you have to be angsty about anymore?” Kara sniffed. 

“Well, I have a pretty upset little sister which doesn’t make me very happy,” Alex started. “And I can already tell I’m not going to be able to fucking walk tomorrow because your repression workout kicked my entire ass”

Kara hummed an answer, sniffling again as the tears subsided. She let herself just rest on Alex, the fingers in her hair soothing. “Can we make banana bread?”

Alex broke into a laugh, pushing Kara. “Yes, you weirdo, we can make banana bread. Do you feel better?”

“I have to talk to Mom again, don’t I?”

“It definitely would help. You know she wouldn’t keep doing it if she knew how awful it was making you feel,” Alex said. “Maybe not today, but I don’t think she meant to cause the biannual Kara Danvers breakdown.”

“Don’t call it that.”

Alex tossed her hands up. “What? If you cried every week at ‘This Is Us’ with me and Sam, I wouldn’t have to. You’re the one that likes to shove everything down until it gets too overwhelming and you have an uncharacteristic sobfest.” 

“I’m not going to start watching ‘This Is Us’.” Kara stood up. “Banana bread is my priority right now, you nerd.”

“I’m going to ignore your insults since I know it’s motivated by your lack of emotional depth,” Alex murmured as they relocated to the kitchen. “So, how’s Lena doing? There’s been a lull in the gushing lately.”

“I do not gush.”

Alex smirked, starting to get mixing bowls and ingredients out from various drawers and cabinets. “Wow, you’re just full of denial today. Ruby makes it out like you’re all googly-eyed and giggly every Saturday at the market.”

Kara grabbed three browning bananas from the fruit basket and moved them to the counter. “Ruby likes to exaggerate and you know it. The two of them sit on their butts and eat my inventory. Anyway, Lena’s been out of town, Metropolis and a conference in Central City.”

“No wonder you’ve been so grumpy. Not only is mom being unintentionally the worst, your girlfriend is out of town!”

Kara took the opportunity to kick at Alex’s leg as she walked past to preheat the oven. “Not my girlfriend.” 

/////

Sated with nearly half a loaf of banana bread, Kara was in a much calmer mood by the time Sam and Ruby arrived back. Alex was up with the sound of the garage door, going to help unload bags from the car and restock the fridge and pantry. 

“Rubes, you help too,” Sam said, depositing her share of the bags onto the counter, pouring herself a glass of wine and going to join Kara on the couch. She dropped into Alex’s vacant spot, wrapping Kara into a hug. “Heard you cried today.”

Glasses knocked askew, Kara’s face smushed into Sam’s collarbone. Of course Alex had texted Sam about it. “Yeah, and what about it?”

“Well,” Sam let go of her loving death grip. “I just wanted to reiterate how much I love you like my own sister and that you always are welcome here and I am always here for you.”

Kara’s face twisted. “Were you boozing while grocery shopping?”

“Nope.” Sam popped the p. “Just now. But to be honest, Costco does give me a bit of a high.”

“You’re so weird,” Ruby came in, collapsing into the armchair. 

Sam raised a brow. “Excuse me, what happened to helping put things away?”

“Alex said I set the eggs down too aggressively and I took it as my time to resign from the job.” Ruby took the remote, flipping to the CW. “Can we get pizza tonight?”

“Mm, no. Indian,” Kara protested.

“Ew, no. Mom, don’t let Kara choose.”

“Kara cried today so Kara definitely gets to choose.”

“Kara may have cried but Kara also put Alex through the workout from hell in attempts to weightlift the sadness away so Alex should choose,” Alex cut in, standing at the threshold with a large watermelon in each hand. “Also. Samantha.” She cleared her throat. “Where the fuck do you propose we put these watermelons? Did you happen to buy us an extra refrigerator while you were going to town at Costco?”

Sam used her wine as an excuse not to reply right away. “Kara can make popsicles with one.”

“Nope!”

/////

Indian food was ordered much to Ruby’s dismay. Whatever mood hadn’t been solved by banana bread was quelled by chicken dal and naan. Kara was not inclined to move the rest of the night, and luckily, Sam, Alex, and Ruby (though a tad begrudgingly,) followed suit. 

Ruby had turned upside down in the armchair, legs stuck in the air against the backrest. “Aunt Kara, when did Lena say she was getting back from her lame-o trip?”

“Wednesday, I think. She’s taking a red-eye and going straight to work. I’m meeting her for lunch.”

“Ohh, lunch out with Lena,” Sam cooed. 

“Lunch at her office,” Kara corrected. “She always works through lunch and forgets to eat so I’ve been coming a few times a week.”

“Okay, here’s what I don’t get,” Alex cut in. “You kicked me for calling Lena your girlfriend earlier, but are going to sit here and tell us adorable shit like this? 

Sam rubbed a brow, wine glass still in hand. “You know it is your fault Ruby is starting to swear like a sailor.”

“Mom, it’s fine. It’s not like I do it at school or in front of little kids.” Ruby sent a quick text and let her phone clatter on the coffee table. “But for real Aunt Kara, you and Lena act like you’re dating all the time.” 

“And you called the first time you got coffee a date,” Sam pointed out.

“I was excited, I mislabeled,” Kara tried. “That was weeks ago.”

“We know, and you’ve been ditching us ever since,” Alex said. 

Kara did not have much in response to that. Her and Lena had left coffee promising to hang out more, and they had done just that. Under more peer pressure from Ruby, Kara had texted Lena later that same day. Lena’s texts were sporadic, replies coming within minutes or hours later in the middle of the night. They had gotten lunch at the new poke bowl place in town. Then had an evening at a showing for the National City Film Festival. They had gotten drinks at a hole in the wall cocktail bar afterward, Lena bringing up her wine stash and a cheese spread she had gotten at the market. That prompted going back to Lena’s place, both getting properly smashed, Kara taking a far too expensive Uber (that Lena later reimbursed,) to Alex and Sam’s at the crack of dawn. The hangover had been brutal, but her and Lena had fallen into a rhythm after that night and over the last month. Kara brought Lena lunch at the office, they went to wine bars or dinners together, or even takeout and wine on one of their couches if neither felt like facing the outside world. And there was always Saturday mornings. 

Ruby’s phone buzzed again and she read it with a groan. “All of my friends were at Paxton’s lake house this weekend and now they’re all staying until Tuesday. When do I get my weekends back? I’m missing _everything_.”

“Few more weeks at least.” Sam gave Ruby a poke in the nose, waving off the snarky face she got in response. “You’re the one that wants to wear those Zeezy’s for your first day of school.”

“ _Yeezy’s_.” Ruby over enunciated. 

“Mom brain.”

“Wine brain,” Alex corrected, topping Sam’s glass off anyways.

“I want wine.”

“Ruby, no.” Sam took a sip of her own despite the shutdown.

“Ruby, yes.”

“Why don’t you try this?” Alex held out her beer instead.

More than a little shocked, Ruby grabbed the bottle with wide eyes. She took a swig and promptly spat the IPA all over the coffee table. “Why do you drink that?” she yelled, beer on her chin.

/////

Lena ended up having to cancel Wednesday’s lunch. Her flight was delayed with mechanical issues, not getting back to National City until much later than expected. It was a completely valid reason, but that didn’t stop the pang of disappointment when Kara received the text. 

The radio silence over the next day Kara chalked up to travel time and exhaustion, a flurry of apology texts coming Thursday afternoon along with the suggestion of a night in together. She loved going to Lena’s. Though she never felt completely comfortable pouring Bordeaux red wine over the Italian marble countertops or holding said wine while sitting close to a white shag carpet, it was a welcome escape. Lena’s place had air conditioning. And a toilet that you didn’t have to jiggle the handle to get it to flush. And the door didn’t need three deadbolts. And the shower had a rain head plus four wall jets and consistently ran hot water. But Lena seemed to always prefer the opposite, cocooning herself in homemade tie-blankets on Kara’s slightly lumpy, mostly squishy couch and eating junk food. That coupled with Kara’s need to popsicle prep for the weekend, she acquiesced to the night-in being on her side of town. 

Lena arrived with her typical three knocks, Kara answering the door to her tapping away at her phone with furrowed brows. Her expression relaxed into relief when the phone was shoved away and she was able to look up. “Hey.”

“Long time no see, dude.” Kara pulled Lena into what seemed like a very needed hug. She was a hugger. “You having a day?” 

“More like week, month.”

Kara opened up the door wide enough to let her in. “Me too.”

Coming in, familiar with the apartment at this point, Lena dropped her purse at the counter and herself into one of the two rickety stools. “Really, you too?” She raked fingers through her slightly tangled hair, scraping it into a shitty bun.

“Yup. Shit ass week. But I want to hear about your trip.”

“No way. You always listen to me bitch. It’s your turn. Is that an ice pack?” Lena pointed to the counter where there was, indeed, a gel ice pack wrapped in a thin dish towel. 

Kara had completely forgotten about it, hanging the towel on the fridge handle and tossing the pack into the freezer. “Icing my shoulder, tweaked it a bit at the gym. I always work out when I’m stressed.” Even with the Sunday pep talk from Alex, Sam, and Ruby, Kara had gone to cardio kickboxing on Monday and let one of the trainers talk her into going with to a CrossFit class. 

“That sounds healthy. I drink hard liquor.” Lena gave a wry smile. “So tell me, what has _you_ feeling like a dumpster fire?” 

Kara sighed and launched into it, the call with her mom, Alex, the unfortunate tears. “All good now though,” she finished up. “I’ve been wallowing for days so I’m trying to snap out of it. You being back helps.” Kara knocked into Lena’s shoulder lightly. 

The little nudge coaxed a smile out of Lena. “I’m glad I’m back then. And fuck, I’m just glad to _be_ home. Figuring out the flight yesterday was an absolute nightmare. Jess told me she had some choice words when trying to help me reschedule. I ended up being able to get through the customer service line at the airport but it was a mess.”

“Was it just yesterday that sucked or was the whole trip kind of a bust?”

“It was super busy. And I just hate traveling. Mostly because of the flying aspect. But also, business trips can get rather lonely. I mean, there’s people there, but no one I want to talk to.” Lena kicked her heels off, letting them fall to the ground. “I always end up paying way too much to raid the mini bar and taking a bath in the jetted, hotel tub. Gross, I know, I like to ignorantly believe they actually bleach the living shit out of it after each guest.”

“You can’t take anyone with you?”

“I’ve brought Jess before, which is always fun. But I need someone to hold down the fort in National City, and there isn’t anyone I trust more than Jess,” Lena said. “So it’s just me, trying to muck through the last of the Central City Luthor Corp branch employees that were under my brother’s thumb. As easy as it would be to just fire and rebuild, I can’t do it. Misguided values or not, they’re still people with bills and families. And of course, that pisses off my employees that have always followed the rules, the ones that spoke up instead of turning a blind eye to Lex embezzling millions.”

Kara brought a fist to her chin, elbow resting on the counter. “Did any of them throw salsa at you?”

“No.”

“Well, at least you had that going for you.”

Lena let out a laugh. “When you put it that way, I guess I had a great trip.” She rolled her eyes sarcastically. “Can you believe I would have rather been sweating my ass off with you and Ruby making fun of all the suburban moms and their ridiculously dressed children.”

“Don’t forget the bearded coffee bros,” Kara added. “And those outfits are my favorite part. Oh! There was a new hummus stand there last Saturday. They’ve got this Lemon Cilantro one you would love.” 

Lena’s eyebrows raised, giving a hum of interest. “You can’t tell me that, I’m having a hard enough time trying to not let all the crap I do keep buying from going bad. I made veggie tater tots at like 2 am last night because my zucchini and carrots were about to go soft.”

“Maybe you need a market detox.”

“No way.” Lena shook her head. “Are you trying to get rid of me?”

“That depends.” Kara squat down to the lower cabinets to pull out her popsicle molds. “You going to help me restock?”

“You want me to make popsicles?” Lena looked unsure. “I guess as long as you guide. I don’t want to be responsible for ruining your business.”

“You won’t, it’s easy. And…” Kara revealed a large bottle of expensive looking mezcal from the corner near the fridge. “We get this when we’re done.”

Lena let out a low whistle as Kara handed over the bottle. “Fancy stuff. Didn’t peg you for a mezcal drinker.”

“Had it in a drink a couple months ago and now I get weird cravings for it all the time. Sam got this for me, a thank you for taking Ruby to and from soccer camp all last week. Apparently, I’m less embarrassing than her and Alex. She requested I take her back to school shopping too.”

“You’re her cool aunt, makes sense.” Lena spun the bottle around, checking out the label.

“She spends 85% of the time calling me an enormous dork.”

Lena snorted. “You are an enormous dork. And I mean that in the best way possible.” She popped the top and took a whiff, taken aback at the strength. “Sam has good taste.”

“She’s an angel, I feel like the two of you might get along. But…” Kara took the bottle back and covered it again. “None yet. You have to peel some mangos first.”

“How many?”

“Eleven,” Kara said matter-of-factly, watching Lena’s face drop a bit. She always did find it humorous when people had their moment of realizing how much work went into making her popsicles. “I used to let my helpers booze on the job but then Alex fucked herself up peeling a ginger root and I had to make it a rule.”

Lena pushed up her sleeves. “How does one fuck themselves up with a peeler?”

“You don’t want to know, but Alex will show you the scar if you ask.” Kara stopped, surveying Lena’s outfit, a little mussed from a day of wear but still far too nice for any activity involving stainable ingredients. “You’re going to want to change too, that white blouse is asking to get ruined with turmeric.”

Lena checked her own outfit out as well, making a face. “What insane clothing combination are you going to stick me in this time?”

Opening her mouth to answer, Kara snapped it shut when she thought of the perfect outfit. She held up a finger and jogged over to her dresser. Armed with a crewneck sweatshirt and a pair of shorts, she handed them over all balled up. “No peeking until you actually have it on, okay?”

Slightly bemused but game, Lena changed in the bathroom, walking out with an, “Oh my god.”

“Do you love it?”

Donning the oversized sweatshirt reading ‘KALE’ in a collegiate looking script, Lena pursed her lips. “It certainly is something. I thought it said ‘Yale’.”

“It’s so stupid,” Kara shook her head with a smile. “Twenty-five bucks on Etsy if you want a matching one.”

“Tempting.” Lena pushed up the sleeves. “Am I popsicle ready now?”

Kara dumped a reusable grocery bag full of organic mangos onto the counter. “Go for it.”

A lack of culinary prowess and too many close calls with the knife had Lena off mango duty soon enough. She had gotten through the peeling with minimal cursing, but hit a snag trying to slice the fruit off the pit. 

Kara had no choice but to stop before digits were lost. “Okay, no more knife for you, you’re going to cut a finger off.”

Hands sticky with mango juice, a defeated look on her face, Lena slumped into the counter. “You make it look so easy.” Her eyes widened and she pointed as Kara lopped off a half easily, getting just around the pit. “How did you not just chop your hand in half?!”

“Practice,” Kara said, moving onto the next mango. “Don’t look so flabbergasted, I can’t do 99% of all the crazy biomedical engineering techie stuff you do.”

That seemed to be enough to convince Lena that she wasn’t just a bump on a log. She sat quietly for a moment, fingertips drumming against the counter as she watched. “How mad would you be if I pulled the booze out?”

Giving one of the mango halves a quick dice and throwing it into a pot, Kara nodded. “Go for it. I was thinking we could do a spin on a margarita, I have a hibiscus concentrate in the fridge.”

“You’re so extra sometimes,” Lena said, getting up anyways to open the fridge. “Not that I mind, that sounds fucking delicious,” she muttered, pulling the mason jar full of the deep, red concentrate out. “Limes?”

“You got it.” Kara threw in more mango. “Oh, not those misshapen ones though. The makrut ones. Those are for the pops.”

“On the rocks or blended?” Lena came out of the fridge with a handful of smooth limes. 

Kara stopped the knife for a moment. “Uh, whatever feels right. I don’t have a preference.”

“After the mango debacle, I’m surprised you have confidence in my bartending skills. My experience begins and ends with pouring straight scotch into a glass.”

Another fast dice and Kara looked up with a laugh. “I trust you.”

“Don’t say I didn’t warn you.” 

True to her word, Lena playing bartender was clunky and extremely heavy-handed. Concentrate in, limes squeezed, and glasses topped with seltzer, Lena handed Kara the tamer of the two. Kara swirled the ice to mix hers before taking a gulp, the smoky burn immediately hitting the back of her throat. She almost coughed, just holding back a wince. “Jesus.”

Having taken a sip as well, Lena just shrugged. “Mine tastes okay.”

Twenty minutes later and one drink down, Lena was, for lack of a better term, _lit_.

“Hey.” Lena interrupted herself by trying to take a drink from her empty glass, ending up with ice in the face and the last remaining drops. “Should I make more?”

With the hibiscus red around her mouth like a five-year-old who went too hard on a Kool-Aid Bursts, Kara could not take her seriously. She stifled a small snort. “Should you?”

“I’m doing it.”

Kara took a step back from her mango purée and the stove, throwing another makrut lime leaf in. “Have you eaten yet?”

Uncorking the bottle again, Lena looked a bit sheepish. “Barely eaten all day, too much stuff to do.”

“Well, before you end up puking pink in my bathroom, I am ordering us pizza.” Kara wiped her hands on a dish towel. “Why didn’t you say something before, aren’t you hungry?”

“Kinda starving, kinda wanted alcohol more,” Lena shrugged. “But I am so down for pizza.”

Kara pulled out her phone and brought up the menu for the woodfired place. “I swear I’m going to make a bunch of fucking peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and make Jess bring them to you periodically. I’m going to call Piccola’s.” Leaving Lena in charge of stirring, the only task she could do semi-safely in her state, Kara stepped behind her ‘bedroom’ curtain to call. It took way longer than necessary, a loud restaurant proving difficult for the poor employee on the other end. When she reemerged, Lena was leaning awkwardly against the counter, stirring lazily.

“I’m drunk.”

“I know.” Kara pulled a 30 oz. Goldfish carton from her front closet/pantry. “Eat these until we get pizza, 'kay?”

Lena sobered up enough by the time the pizza got there, grabbing cash out of her purse and starting for the door as soon as the buzzer sounded. Stuck with a large pot in her hands, pouring the popsicle mix into molds, Kara let her go. 

Coming back bogged down with three pizza boxes, Lena kicked the door shut and went to set everything on the coffee table. “What the fuck, Kara?”

Kara snapped the lid on the popsicle mold, fixing an out of place stick. “What did I do?”

“Is this…” Lena motioned down to the pizza box she opened, “did you order a bacon and brussel sprout pizza?”

“Mmm…” Kara deposited the popsicles in the freezer and joined Lena to stare at her dinner choice. “That is one hundred percent what it is and it is amazing.” Despite the steam rising from the pie, she grabbed a slice and took a bite, ignoring the scalding on the roof of her mouth. “Try it.”

Lena took a slice more carefully, melty mozzarella dripping over her hands anyway. She gave a grimace before taking a large bite. Kara watched her facial journey, one of confusion, surprise, hiding enjoyment, relenting to a disgruntled look that it was, in fact, amazing. 

“Told you.” Kara grabbed a bit of bacon that threatened to fall. “I got you that weird fennel, basil, arugula one you like too so don’t feel obligated to keep eating this deliciousness for my sake.”

Slumping into the soft couch in defeat, Lena opened the next box, with her preferred order. “I would say I hate you if I wasn’t so hungry.”

“Mmhmm.” 

//////

Even with the sustenance, Lena didn’t last too long after pizza before she was edging on smashed again. The tie-blankets were brought out, Rocky Road Oreos set between them on the couch. When the last column of cookies was empty, the package was left to fall on the floor and Lena closed the gap, head moving onto Kara’s lap.

“You don’ care if I lay here?”

“Go for it.” Kara set her drink down, readjusting the blankets over them. Her entire body felt heavy, just teetering on the edge of being drunk enough to have a hangover in the morning. The Netflix buffer circle spun on the screen, another episode of Law and Order SVU starting. 

As Mariska Hargitay’s serious face faded into ‘Executive Producer Dick Wolf’ and the jarring theme music swelled into the credits for the third time, Lena jolted from the light doze she had fallen into. “Wha’ time’s it?”

Not totally conscious herself, Kara squinted at her phone. “Late.” 

“‘S it okay if I sleep here?” Lena’s cadence slurred, dark lashes fluttering.

“Course.” Kara stretched, standing up to turn off the lamp near Lena’s head, Lena burrowing into a throw pillow. “You need anything?” She wracked her brain to remember if she actually had a spare toothbrush in the bathroom cabinet, only recalling that she did have a 4-pack of travel sized mouthwash. Which was barely helpful. 

“Nuh-uh.” Lena curled up, brow slightly furrowed, lips in a resting pout, one hand tucked up to her face. 

It was so adorable and it took more willpower than Kara would like to admit to not press a kiss to her wrinkled forehead. She settled on a quick graze of her blanketed shoulder as she walked to her own bed. “Goodnight.”

Her bed wasn’t far from the couch, just ten steps. Six if you took big ones. So when she crawled underneath the covers and settled herself against her pillow, she could hear Lena’s rhythmic breathing, the seldom deep sigh, and any adjustment against the cushions. The window creaked as the wind picked up outside, moonlight casting dancing shadows through the gap in the curtains. 

/////

When Kara’s alarm blared unforgivingly at 8:00 am, she jolted awake with a dry mouth and a dull ache behind her eyes. She grabbed the water bottle on her nightstand, chugging down half before the world around her got more coherent. Putting on her glasses helped too. The apartment was quiet and empty as she ventured outside her curtain. The couch was unoccupied, blanket folded neatly over the arm. Lena’s belongings were gone from beside the door, the only evidence of her staying over being the scratch paper left on the counter. 

Lena’s loopy scrawl was hurried,

_You’re a doll for letting me crash, sorry I was a drunk mess and sorry for ghosting you this morning. Jess might actually kill me if I miss the briefing today and I’m already late. But I wanted to say thanks for being exactly what I needed last night. You’re my favorite. I owe you waffles. -LL_

Kara was screwed before. She knew that. She knew it from the moment she spotted Lena bumbling around with an armload of purchases, simultaneously looking like an idiot and absolutely endearing. It was getting harder and harder to ignore her feelings. She liked Lena. A lot. And as nice it was to have a friend, she didn’t know how long she could hold out before she potentially ruined everything.


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “You scoffed because I said ‘friends’. Which we are, but you…” Kara lifted her head back up, struggling but finding her words somewhat quicker. “Oh my god.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HEY. Yeah it's been three months. New year, same me. I've been traveling a ton for work so this has been written on a combination of my laptop, tablet, and phone. Bless Google Docs amiright? 
> 
> I appreciate any of you sticking with this fic and 1000% love hearing your thoughts on it all.
> 
> Hope you enjoy. This is nearly 10,000 words and THINGS are happening.

It was an ironed blouse, pencil skirt, and highest heels she could walk in without busting her shit, kind of day. With her hair in a severe updo, eyeliner sharp, and lips painted a deep red, it was Lena’s ‘do _not_ fuck with me’ look. As much as she’d prefer to be the kind of CEO that didn’t have a door and wore velour tracksuits to work simply because they could, she didn’t have that luxury. The curse of the Luthor name, her young age, and her womanhood ruined that all for her. She had to be flawless, but relatable. Firm, but not bitchy. Lena could do it, a skill she had to perfect at an early age, but it was energy sucking as all get out and a waste of her fucking time. She had taken fifteen minutes to perfect her eyebrows but if one loudmouth tried to mansplain during the investor’s meeting to go over her latest plans, she was ready to throw down. It would likely be Bradley Vanderholt, having taken over his family’s trust after his father passed. The last meeting, he had genuinely asked Lena if she knew how L-Corp’s newest product, (that she had developed, created, and tested,) worked and had offered to show her. It had taken more than a little effort to not completely tell him off or punch him in the face. 

Per usual, the meeting served as a waste of time compared to what she actually needed to get done. Going through pleasantries to finish up, she all but power-walked back to her own office, heels clacking noisily in her wake. 

Jess gave her all of five minutes before following. “Your face is so pinched, you’re giving _me_ wrinkles,” she said, setting the binder she had brought in down on the desk. “You want lunch?”

“I swear to god I will vomit if I eat right now.” Lena barely looked up, finger flying across her keyboard to respond to an email from her mother’s lawyer. As if the usual work drama hadn’t been enough, Luthor drama was back on her radar as well. Her stomach was in stress knots because the meeting had been _stupid_ and food was truly the last thing on her mind. After she hit reply and Jess still hadn’t moved, she brought her head up. “What?”

Jess raised her brows. “How about a glass of water?”

“Jess, I have so much shit to get done…”

Before she could finish her half-baked excuse, Jess grabbed Lena’s left hand and pinched between her thumb and pointer finger. They both watched the pale skin fail to bounce back with the usual elasticity. “I brought you four espresso shots before the meeting, of course you feel sick. You’re clearly dehydrated, don’t be dumb.”

“Fine.” Lena took her hand back and pushed away from the desk, rubbing at her forehead. Jess had a point. If left to her own devices, she would probably go for her office whiskey before the water pitcher, exacerbating the issue. “I guess I wouldn’t be opposed to hummus and pita either. I won’t eat it right away but I will eventually. I’ll probably be here all night anyway.”

“Atta girl.” Jess tapped the binder. “These are the documents to approve the new lab positions. Signatures on all and approval on the job descriptions and qualifications. And please know that since I moved your schedule onto a shared document, I know you’re planning on working yourself to near collapse. Please remember that twenty-minute breaks are helpful and encouraged.”

“Mmhmm.” Lena slid the binder so it was in front of her, opening it up the and giving the first document a quick skim. It was important and it was _boring_. She dropped her head down onto the desk with a small thud.

Jess sighed, giving an overly tensed shoulder a squeeze. “You need to get laid.”

“I _need_ to work on these documents.” Lena’s voice was muffled, face squished in said documents. 

“It might make you feel better. Let me download Tinder for you again. Give you something to do on those breaks you _are_ going to take.”

Lena snorted, lifting her head up. “Yeah, because that went so well last time.”

Jess plucked Lena’s personal phone off the desk before she could stop her. “You’re the one who won’t admit your feelings for Kara. Excuse me for relying on alternative methods.”

“I love you, Jess. But please leave me to my misery.”

“Aye aye, Captain Luthor.”

Email inbox pinging again, Lena turned her head to check who it was from for a millisecond too long. Jess had the phone and was out the door.

/////

After another near all-nighter, Lena actually managed to make it back to her apartment. She called a Lyft at 4:45 in the morning after she nodded off while laying on her office floor, head on her keyboard. Luckily, the email to accounting with 5000 characters of gibberish her forehead had typed did not send. Her bed was exponentially more comfortable than her office couch and her room actually had curtains to block out the offensive morning sun rays. When her alarm for the market went off, she almost didn’t get out of bed. She was buried in her blankets, ceiling fan going enough to keep her cool, and her eyelids remained heavy enough to easily slip back closed.

But Kara. Kara who sent texts regularly to make sure she was still alive when she went radio silent for too long, who offered to make Pedialyte pops the Friday prior when she was hungover out of her mind. And who never made her feel bad when work was prioritized, sending memes, gifs, and encouraging texts to get her through being holed up in her office. 

Not to blow everything off without giving a proper excuse, Kara deserved at least that, she reluctantly rolled from her perfectly comfortable position to get her phone off the nightstand. Kara had already texted.

_it’s MimOsa, not MimosA_

Had the Harry Potter pun not been accompanied by a photo of a bright orange popsicle dusted with gold, edible glitter, she would have rolled back over and gotten at least three more hours of beauty sleep. But it was and she sat up, legs swinging over the side of the bed instead. 

It was the kind of day that even though Lena’s mind, reluctantly so, was awake and functioning, her body didn’t follow suit. She was very capable of functioning on three hours of sleep, but it took effort. She had to absolutely drag herself through the motions of getting ready. A half-assed shower barely getting her hair wet was as much as she could manage, having to still resort to dry shampoo. She put it all up in an excuse for a top knot and moved on to clothes. Her closet had such a clear separation between Luthor, no-nonsense office outfits and articles of clothing that should never see outside the apartment walls, little was left for the average activity. She eventually found a pair of dark wash jeans and a patterned, short-sleeve button-down that was definitely Kara’s. Some of Kara’s wardrobe consisted of pieces that could only be described as ‘dorky middle-aged dad on a tropical vacation’, and those were the most the most common articles of clothing Kara tended to leave. She always seemed to leave behind something, an earring, a jacket, Lena even found a flip flop once. A single flip flop. Like a modern-day Cinderella who left with one shoe. Lena really didn't mind though, able to wear the forgotten thing or simply bring it to their next hangout. So, on the lawnmower dotted button down went. And despite the ridicule she knew she’d get from Ruby for not driving herself, Lena called for a ride.

She was fucking exhausted and really had no business going in public, but the market had become her Saturday morning routine. No matter what had happened during the week, how bad she was feeling self-esteem wise, in her business or herself personally, she had somewhere to go. She had fresh air, a generally happy environment, and she had Kara. Popsicle pushing and the subsequent brain freezes were inevitable, but she got to be herself. She got to wear street clothes, lay in the sun, and get poked fun at by a twelve-year-old. Kara would dance at the overplayed pop music that floated over from a few tables down. Ruby would regale her with her latest in preteen drama world. There was always something, Carter and Landon, the shitty eighth-grade boys who had started rating girls Instagram pictures with emojis or Ruby’s best friend Kinzie ducking out on their friend group trip to the water park because she didn’t know how nor wanted to use a tampon. Things that ‘boarding school since age nine’ and ‘college by sixteen’ Lena never truly experienced. It made her feel almost normal.

Her driver pulled up to the market entrance, Lena giving thanks before stepping out and walking under the familiar tarp welcome sign. Warmth pooled in her stomach as muscle memory lead her towards the usual spot. “Hey,” she greeted, Ruby on her phone and Kara hidden behind the cart, just her sneakers visible.

Kara popped up at the sound of her voice. “Hey stranger,” She shut the cart freezer door and pushed down her tip jar to make room for more. “Nice shirt.”

“You too,” Lena said, Kara’s being an Etsy purchase she had been around to see. The plain black tee read, ‘GRL PWR’ with a popsicle between the two words. Purse slipping from her shoulder, she rounded to the back of the cart and let herself get pulled into a hug, a quick kiss pressing to her cheek. It made her damn heart skip a beat every time, but she had convinced herself not to read into it, Kara was affectionate with everyone. But it was hard for her not to let herself melt into the physical contact. Jess always made fun of her for being a closet snuggler. The Luthor’s weren’t known for their warm and fuzzy nature, and Lena spent a lot of her life convinced that she wasn’t one that needed hugs. But she totally did. 

Ruby was on her feet but had a hip cocked, shoulders slouched like she was already done for the day. “Aunt Kara, do you think mom will get pissed if I post the alcohol popsicle on my Instagram?” She had a few of the glittery newbies laid out. “Hi Lena, you look tired.”

Not taking the comment to heart, Lena sat on a free cooler. “I barely slept, being an adult is overrated. Gimme one of those.” 

“You not sleeping? What an unexpected twist of events,” Ruby drawled, not handing over a popsicle. 

Kara reached back and handed one over. “Is this what coaxed you out of bed?”

“Mmhmm,” Lena hummed honestly, wrapper torn and popsicle in her mouth right away. How Kara managed to create something that captured the sweetness of fresh squeezed orange juice while maintaining the crisp dryness of good bubbly was beyond her. 

“Kara, _can_ I?”

“No. You’re not even allowed to be serving them. If you really want to take a picture, it will have to go on mine. We can add social media marketing to your list of skills.” Kara checked the ID of a patron ordering the boozy pop, thanking them and handing over the goods. 

“Can I come up with the caption too?” Ruby prodded. “Please?”

Kara shook her hair out of its ponytail, fingers combing through to pull it back into a bun. “Sure, I don’t care.”

Content with her popsicle, Lena finally noticed the bags under Kara’s eyes as well, her brows in an irritated furrow. Feeling a little guilty for focusing more on the popsicle than the popsicle supplier’s wellbeing, she stuck a foot out, Adidas sneaker poking Kara in the leg. “You good?” 

“Yeah.” Kara let out a sigh, reaching underneath her glasses to rub at her eyes. “Sorry, like right before you got here I had a customer blow up at me.”

Lena’s brow sunk into a matching furrow. “Who loses their shit over popsicles?”

“It was this couple. They sucked,” Ruby elaborated poorly.

“This girl wanted a mimosa popsicle and was having her boyfriend get it for her and they got all bent out of shape when I asked for both of their IDs,” Kara explained. “They pushed back a lot, the guy just started screaming at me about age discrimination and something about always pleasing the customer.”

“And the girl was only seventeen,” Ruby finished. 

Kara gave a wry smile. “It wasn’t the worst thing in the world, he just got in my face about popsicles and pissed me off.”

“How dare you follow the law and not sell alcoholic products to a minor.” Lena extended both legs, hooking around Kara’s calf and attempting to pull her closer. “I’m sorry you had to deal with that.”

Ruby huffed. “Market bitches have some ‘tudes today. But we did see a really great dog.”

“Oh my god.” Kara reached underneath the cart for her phone, bad mood doing a 180. “Lena, he was wearing _sunglasses_!”

The sun broke through the cloud it had been hiding behind, the warm rays making Lena lean back onto her elbows. She watched Kara cut up the new flavors of the week and stick in toothpicks for sampling. Ruby had pulled her own phone out, attempting to get an artsy looking shot of the mimosa popsicle while sucking on her own Orange Cardamom creamsicle. Apparently, the sun was giving a weird glare on the wrapper and the color was lackluster, a lot of scoffing coming whenever she checked her shots. 

One more exasperated groan and Ruby let her head fall back. “Lena, can I have your phone?”

Lena tore her lazy gaze away from a man who was carrying way too many tomatoes and was likely about to drop a few. “Why?”

“Because my phone is a piece of crap and you have the iPhone X. Help a girl out.” Not thinking twice, Lena unlocked her phone with her thumb, handing it over. It only took a few seconds for an, “Oh my god, you have Tinder?” to erupt from Ruby’s mouth.

Heat rising to her cheeks, Lena resisted snatching the device right back. Fucking Jess. “You don’t need to tell the entire world,” she said, trying to ignore the flitting glance Kara gave at the mention of the app. “Jess made me,” she tried.

“Why does your assistant care if you’re going on dates?”

“Tinder’s usually not for d-” Lena stopped herself before ruining the innocence behind Ruby’s question. “Jess is my friend, and she thinks I’m lonely.”

Ruby took a lick of her popsicle, stopping a drip from getting her hands and the phone, sticky. “Let me look, I’m a great matchmaker. I’ll find you a girlfriend. I’m the one who got my mom and Alex together, you know?”

“Up.” Kara made them get up from their seat of the cooler to grab another box of the mimosa pops. “You were practically a baby when they met.”

“I was two and I was so damn cute.” Ruby took another lick. “My mom was looking for a roommate but wasn’t having any luck because no college kids wanted to live with a baby. Until Alex. Mom says I suckered her in with these eyes.” She fluttered her lashes dramatically. 

Handing the box off, Kara looked back. “That part is kind of true. How old were you when they actually started dating?” She turned to Lena. “They took _forever_ to admit they had feelings for each other, it was insane.”

Ruby shrugged. “I dunno, eight maybe.”

“It was this whole thing,” Kara started. “Alex kept talking about moving out but really wouldn’t tell me why beyond some lame excuse about being too old to have a housemate. So I took Ruby for a night so they could talk about it. And I guess they both got pretty drunk and Alex told Sam she had to move out because she liked her. Didn’t say ‘in love’. _Liked_ her.”

“And then mom kissed her and they’ve been together ever since.” 

“It took them _six_ years?” Lena couldn’t hide her disbelief, the sole fact sticking out of the sweet story more than anything else. She was repressed and shit with expressing her feelings, but she was confident she could do so in under six years. With Kara, she was only at two months and counting. Not too bad. 

“It’s going to take you six years to find someone if you don’t let me help you.” Ruby clicked on the app, pulling Lena from her thoughts and abandoning her Instagram photo shoot. “ _That’s_ the picture you chose?”

“Geez, Rubes. Go easy on her.” Kara reached back for a new stack of napkins and the iPad to make a card transaction. 

Ruby turned the phone to Lena, her first photo on screen. “I’m not trying to be mean, you’re so pretty you make me want to punch myself in the face because even after all this puberty, I will probably never look like you. You just don’t look happy.”

Lena raised a brow, trying to figure out where the compliment was in Ruby’s response. “I’m smiling?”

“Don’t worry.” Ruby waved her off as she continued to scroll. “Give me the rest of the morning and I will get the perfect shot.”

“What happened to my Instagram photo?”

“Aunt Kara, I can multitask.”

/////

Ruby was none too slick with her attempts at capturing a candid photo of Lena. Once she had perfected and posted the mimosa pic, she dropped the sneak attack tactic and opted to try and pageant-mom a presentable pose out of her. A fist under the chin looked ridiculous, as did a finger to the temple, and had Ruby not been so adorably optimistic, Lena would have backed out sooner. Luckily for her, Kara put the kibosh on the pictures when the customer flow started to pick up. With the gorgeous weather and most families trying to eke out the last bit of summer before school started, the market was busy and the extra hands were needed. Lena let herself get wrangled into joining Ruby fold up the cardboard boxes, filling with custom sets or full of the same flavor and labeling accordingly. 

“Aren’t you the boss of everything at your real job?” Ruby asked as she shoved the ordered variety of popsicles in a box. “Why are you letting Kara make you work on the weekends?”

“It’s the least I can do.” Lena exchanged a newly folded box with Ruby’s finished one, uncapping a silver Sharpie to jot down the flavors inside. “I wouldn’t show up here and mooch if I wasn’t willing to help. Plus, I like helping Kara.”

“Kiss ass.”

“She’s being a good friend,” Kara defended, giving an appreciative smile as she handed back an order.

The word ‘friend’ in reference to her and Kara had started to cause almost a visceral reaction in Lena. When Jess said it sarcastically, when her driver asked if she was going to her ‘friend’s’ place again, Ruby, and especially if she or Kara were the ones to say it. They were friend zoning themselves. Well, she couldn’t exactly speak for Kara who could, potentially, be friend zoning for real. But what could she do? Blurt out that she was possibly falling for her new best friend? Her feelings had not reached in-love yet, but they certainly weren’t simply platonic. 

With the stream of customers not stopping, they fell into a rhythm. Kara dealt with any single popsicle transactions in one line, a separate line forming to fill out index card sized sheets for custom boxes that got handed to Ruby and Lena. Money exchanges were handled by Kara in between everything else. The rush slowed down gradually as morning transitioned to noon. 

“No way.” Ruby suddenly dropped the box she was working on. 

Lena looked up after scrawling ‘Dipped Chocolate Hazelnut’ across her current box. Two women were in front of the cart. One tall and pointing a finger at Ruby, asking why she wasn’t working harder. The other, with cropped hair and a leather jacket not practical for the weather, leaned over the cart, groaning as Kara pushed her back, telling her all boozy flavors were long gone. It had to be Sam and Alex.

“Mom, do not take a picture. I look like crap. Alex, tell her to not!” Ruby dove behind Lena, grabbing hold of her waist for support, proving her suspicions. 

Alex straightened back up, pushing Sam’s phone away. “Babe, don’t worry. Our presence is embarrassing enough.”

“I thought you guys valued sleeping in over coming to this delightful place,” Kara said, slapping Alex’s hands as she reached for samples.

Sam pocketed her phone. “We do, but I felt bad that we haven’t made an appearance all summer.”

“ _You_ felt bad,” Alex corrected. “I wanted to meet Lena.” Moving around the cart, she extended a hand. “Hey, I’m Kara’s sister, Alex.”

Now that she was acknowledged, Lena set the finished box aside, standing up and taking the hand. “Hi Kara’s sister Alex,” she joked dryly, getting a smile in return.

“I like this one.” Alex gave Kara’s middle a pinch. “Now, are you going to give me a damn popsicle? I don’t need an alcohol one.”

Sam came behind the cart too as Kara and Alex went back and forth about how many popsicles were allowed and what flavors were off limits. She smiled warmly at Lena. “I’m Sam.”

Lena returned the gesture. “Lena Luthor.”

“Nice to finally meet you, Lena.” Sam turned to her daughter. “Okay, Rubes. Give me the lowdown, how did you help out today?” 

Trying her hardest not to let her eyes roll, Ruby stood up, dusting off her shorts. “There have been a billion people today so I’ve been recording what’s been sold so Kara knows how her inventory is and what we’ve run out of. And me and Lena have made all the boxes while Kara’s up there shmoozing and losing her mind over every fricking baby she sees.”

Having sated Alex’s need for a popsicle, Kara cut in. “Hey! You missed the baby that tried Lavender Lemonade and did the cutest little pucker I’ve ever seen in my life. It absolutely warranted the gushing.”

“Oh!” Ruby tugged on Sam’s arm, ignoring Kara’s input. “I also made the best Insta post to ever grace Kara’s timeline.” She dug for her phone, pulled up the photo and held it out. 

Ruby had used Lena’s phone for the quality, borrowed ‘props’ from nearby vendors, and had been cracking herself up at the caption she came up with. 

“When your work week was a champagne in the ass...” Sam read, an eyebrow raising. She kept scanning. “You hashtagged, ‘orange you glad it’s Saturday’?”

“Isn’t it amazing?”

“Yes, honey. Social media maven level.”

Ruby tilted her head to the side. “I can’t tell if you’re being sarcastic or not.”

“I’m serious,” Sam clarified. “You’ve really done a nice job with Kara this summer and her and I spoke last night and…”

Ruby squealed before Sam could finish. “Wait. Am I done?!” She flung her arms around Sam as she confirmed. 

While Ruby subsequently lost her shit, Lena felt a hand on her shoulder. It was Kara. “Just you and me on Saturdays from now on.”

“Hmm, I don’t know if I’ll come for just you.” Lena turned at Kara’s subsequent gasp. “Don’t even start, you know I’m here for you and your addicting popsicles.”

“I thought it was my alluring presence and charming personality. You’re telling me it’s popsicle-driven?”

“I’m too tired to feed your ego,” Lena gave up on her attempted snark. “It’s all you, you baby. Did you know they were coming today?” She motioned over to Ruby clarifying she’d get her shoes for the first day of school with Sam, Alex checking out the beer can candles at the table over. 

“I did. Sam and I went over numbers the other day. The plan was to take Ruby out for a celebratory brunch at Driftwood. You in?”

“I don’t want to impede on family time,” Lena tried, though caffeine plus some really good breakfast potatoes didn’t seem like the worst thing in the world. 

As if on cue, Ruby yelled, “Lena, you coming to get food too?!”

Expectant eyes on her, Lena nodded, giving in easily enough. “Wouldn’t miss it.”

With extra hands, take down only took minutes and they were ready to go shortly after the one pm cut off. The van was parked farther than normal, Kara tucking the umbrella under her arm and convincing Alex to grab a small cooler on the final trip. She linked her other arm with Lena as they walked across the lot. “I know you’re dead on your feet, but I appreciate you coming out with us.” Kara leaned more Lena’s way, making sure she didn’t hit her with the umbrella.

“The mimosa popsicle gave me a second wind,” Lena said. “Plus, now I can get you those waffles I promised last week.”

“Oh yeah!” Kara let out a laugh. “I forgot that letting your drunk butt sleep on my couch warrants free waffles.”

“Housing my drunk butt gets you waffles. Saving my eye from hot peppers gets you coffee. Keep up.”

“What does telling you your bra is totally out right now get me?”

Looking down, Lena’s purse strap had indeed pulled her button up and tank top to reveal nearly a full cup of her bra. Little embarrassment came as she fixed it, it wasn’t like her nipple was exposed. What was a bit of fabric? She quirked a brow instead, answering, “Nothing, you got enough of a show already.” The sputtering start of a response from Kara was well worth it. “Really, thank you though,” she added, fully adjusting the button down to cover herself up. 

“Here to help.” Kara pulled the handle of the van back door, blush fading.

Ruby cut in front of Lena after Kara climbed in. “I’ll take bitch seat!”

“ _Jump_ seat,” Sam corrected. “Please call it a jump seat.” She hopped into the driver side. “If this wasn’t the designated soccer van, I would rip that thing out.”

“Too bad the thrill of the sheer possibility of being able to chauffeur around seven passengers at once makes you keep it in,” Alex said, buckling in. 

“Don’t make fun of my van, you know you love it as much as I do.”

Ruby pushed the button on the ceiling to drop down the DVD player. “You know you love these sweet features!”

Alex flipped her sunglasses down, muttering, “I miss my bike.”

“Glorified moped,” Kara corrected. 

Lena clicked her seatbelt into place, shutting the door as Ruby bumped into her legs, trying to navigate the more complicated buckling of the jump seat. They hadn’t even left the parking lot before the beginning vocals of Bohemian Rhapsody was blasting through the speakers.

Alex groaned. “Who did it?”

Already singing along, Sam pushed at Alex’s face before turning onto the main road. The AUX cord coming out of the front console 12V socket trailed into her lap. Post intro piano, the volume was cranked and Kara and Ruby joined in the singing. By the second ‘Mama,’ so had Alex.

Lena stayed quiet, not that she didn’t love the song. Lex had played Queen on rides to school before he left for college. She had only been seven or eight, but it was something they kept from Lillian, and honestly, a nice memory in an otherwise shitty childhood. They never sang along, Lex telling her to listen to the intricacies of the piece instead, the background vocals, the layering, and added sounds. Not quite the same as the current situation.

It was clearly an Arias/Danvers regular as everyone seemed to have their own special section to solo paired with headbanging and air guitars. Lena was okay with simply observing. And listening. Because in addition to all the other attractive things about Kara, she could _sing_. 

Driftwood wasn’t far enough to get through the entire song, Sam refusing to put the van into park until the music faded out. 

When it finally did, Alex ripped the phone off the cord, tossing it to Sam and turning to peek through her headrest. “Enjoy the performance, Luthor?” Alex was proving to be the quintessential big sister Kara had talked her up as, grumbly, sarcastic, and unbelievably kind. Hard as she tried to give the impression of being a badass, it was clear she was absolute mush for her sister, girlfriend, and for Ruby.

“Grammy-worthy,” Lena responded, getting pressed back as Ruby leaned over her to open the door. 

“You jelly I can make popsicles and sing like an angel?” Kara waggled her eyebrows as they all clambered out. 

“Well, she’s certainly not jelly of your humility,” Alex cut in. 

Ruby put on her bet DJ Khaled voice. “Be humble but be wise, be great but be grateful!”

Sam pulled open the door to Driftwood, holding it to let a couple out. “And here you thought Alex and I would be the embarrassing ones.”

They were seated rather quickly for a Saturday morning, Lena found herself sandwiched between Sam and Kara, Alex and Ruby sitting across. 

Sam groaned as she slowly sat in her chair. “I am never working out again.”

“Oh, so you don’t want a Peloton for Christmas anymore?” Alex asked with a smirk. 

“Maybe.” Sam turned to Lena. “I took a spin class because one of my coworkers was talking it up, worst idea of my life.”

“I made that mistake once,” Lena said, mind flashing to when Jess has dragged her to Soul Cycle. “The butt bruise will fade.”

Kara gave her a nudge. “Speaking from experience?”

“Unfortunately.”

“Fade or not, I’m not going again,” Sam said. 

“No Peloton for you then.” Alex raised a brow, peeping over her newly found drink menu. “Oh, fuck yes, Bloody Mary’s.” She reached diagonally across the table to Kara. “Dude, _look_ at this.”

The drink discovery quickly devolved into Alex, Kara, and Ruby getting into the extensive waffle selection, Sam turning to Lena. “So, I’m so happy Alex and I finally got to meet you. We’ve been hearing about you for weeks.”

Lena looked up from her own menu. “Hopefully all good things.”

“Are you kidding me?” Sam leaned back as the waitress set waters on the table, shooting her a quick smile and a ‘thank you’. “Of _course_ it’s all good.”

The conversation paused, the waitress taking drink orders around the table. Lena played it safe, ordering a tea instead of anything super caffeinated or alcoholic. Like most Saturdays, she fully intended on an afternoon crash. 

“I’ve only heard good things about you too,” Lena started up. “And I’ve learned you have a really good taste for mezcal.”

“Oh yeah! Kara told me you guys had fun with that.” 

Lena took a sip from her water. “I will have you know, the hangover was a lot less fun. I did get to hear about how you and Alex got together today.”

Sam laughed. “Ah, the six-year saga. It’s funny now but god…” She stole a glance at Alex blowing a straw wrapper into Ruby’s face. “I was just too in my own head about everything. Like having a kid forbid me from starting a relationship. And Alex was just oblivious and dumb.”

“Excuse me, I am the only doctor in the family,” Alex defended, clearly only catching her name and the insults.

“If you’re so smart, how come Mom, Aunt Kara and I all kicked your ass at Scattergories last week,” Ruby said. 

“Since when is Scattergories the measuring tool for intelligence level?”

“Babe, I was referring to your lack of proactiveness and pining before we started dating.”

Alex quieted herself with a lengthy drink from her water. “Okay, yeah. I was dumb.”

“Do you mind if I ask what you’ve been working on lately?” Sam asked, turning back to Lena. “Kara’s been over more this week, which lately has only been happening if you’re busy with work.”

“I don’t like being alone, sue me,” Kara jumped back into the conversation upon hearing her name. “But really Lena, I was going to ask you about your hours lately. Don’t you like sleeping?”

“It’s all good things,” Lena started. It’s… well, part of the reason I was in Central City the other week and why I have a few more trips coming up. I’ve established L-Corp as a new entity outside of Luthor Corp and have changed the direction of research and product development, but I want to lean into the education sector as well.” She could feel herself start to rant. “We hire all these incredible people but have no way to share that knowledge right now. The goal is to open smaller labs across the country, particularly in college towns, with emphasis on internship programs, mentorships, and public classes. Not only do people get to learn more about the technology in general, but it will open up job opportunities for those that otherwise wouldn’t have the experience we want in our base level positions.” Lena had to pause as a yawn interrupted her. “But to start all this, I’ve had to location scout, see if we need to build anywhere, start interviewing for leadership positions once facilities are up and running. And then there is curriculum planning for the actual internship program. And the funding and budgeting.”

Sam gave a low whistle. “That’s incredible.”

“You don’t…” Alex stopped herself, forehead wrinkling slightly before continuing, question asked with apprehension. “Don’t you have other people for any of that?” 

Lena took it in stride. “I do. But final decisions are mine to make, and I don’t like many uneducated judgment calls.”

“Do you get to take a private jet?” Ruby asked. 

“Occasionally.” Lena felt her ears burn a little. “If it’s the most cost-effective like we’re taking a group of employees or if there are any questionable safety concerns with flying commercial.” 

“Does your jet have cool stuff, like a champagne fountain?”

Alex clamped a hand over Ruby’s mouth before she came out with another question. “Stop making her feel weird about being rich, Rube.” Her eyes suddenly widened, hand retracting. “She licked me.”

Ruby looked smug. “Lena. Since you hate flying, is the private jet better or worse than regular planes with all the peasants?”

“The private ones are smaller so any turbulence is much worse. I’d rather teleport. Or have more train transport like Europe,” Lena said, internally kicking herself for the mention of her regular international travel.

“I bet you could come up with a teleportation device,” Kara said, leaning into Lena’s shoulder. 

“Yes, let me stop all my aforementioned projects and get right on that.”

Sam spit the sip of water she had just taken back into her cup with a laugh, Alex handing a napkin across the table. “I’m sorry,” she gasped. “I was not expecting that response.”

Lena smiled, putting a hand on Kara’s shoulder to highlight the playfulness in her statement. “I think it’s a good reminder that I was a math and science prodigy but don’t have a mystical, magical, technology genius brain like all TV shows make prodigies out to be.”

“I was a bit of a science prodigy myself growing up,” Alex said, sitting up a little straighter. 

“Not a Scattergories prodigy though,” Lena let slip before she could stop herself. She was on a roll. Jess always told her that her sarcasm really teetered the line of sounding like an asshole. 

Ruby poked at Alex’s cheek. “Ha Ha.”

Sam and Kara were both chuckling, Sam resting a hand on Lena’s forearm. “You have to come hang out with us more.” She leaned back and reached across Lena’s back to tap Kara. “No more hiding your fun friend from us.”

/////

The conversation took a bit of a break once food arrived, the first few minutes after plates were set down the quietest it had been since Sam and Alex showed up. Lena didn’t mind, the group of them all just a bit overwhelming. Plus, she had breakfast potatoes to attend to. Kara had been right about her and Sam getting along. Alex was equally as nice but was less chatty, more preoccupied with teasing Ruby about her upcoming school year. Sam, as Lena learned, was a senior financial analyst and had similar experiences dealing with egocentric businessmen, the VP of finance at her office sounding a lot like one of the board members at L-Corp. 

“Those were so good.” Kara broke their sparse conversing, scraping at her plate for the last bit of syrup before letting the fork clatter down. “I’m ready to take a ten-hour nap.” She crashed her head onto Lena’s shoulder. “Your bad sleep habits are rubbing off on me.”

Pushing around the potatoes still on her own plate, Lena let her head fall on top of hers with a scoff. “You do not get to blame that on me, I don’t dictate your sleep schedule.”

“I can and I will.” Kara turned her head to catch Lena’s eye, her nose grazing her chin. “Your insomnia tendencies are obviously contagious, and I,” she interrupted herself with a yawn, “have caught the bug.”

Though Kara was pressed into her side, Lena unstuck her arm between them enough to poke at her ribs. “My fault, huh?”

Kara let out a squeal, loud enough to turn heads at nearby tables, Lena hitting a known ticklish spot. She muffled the subsequent giggles by burying her head back into Lena’s shoulder. Eyelashes fluttered against the sensitive skin of her neck, Kara’s breath hot and still trying to reign in control. A smile snuck its way onto Lena’s face as well.

“Seriously you guys, right in front of my salad?” Ruby gestured down to the small plate of mixed fruit she had left, which for sake of her trying to make the joke work, was basically a fruit salad.

“What?” Kara turned her head slightly. 

Ruby speared a grape with her fork. “I’d prefer my brunch be a flirt-free zone.”

“Jokes on you kid, your mom and I have been playing some serious footsie under the table since we got drinks,” Alex said, with a shrug. 

/////

Brunch was cut off when Alex remembered her and Sam had a paint consultation at Home Depot, a laundry room remodel in the works. Lena paid, brushing off all other attempts, citing Kara’s heroic couch lending. Both Sam and Alex had been hard to convince to put their own plastic away, both claiming they had it next time. And that there definitely was going to be a next time. As they were leaving, Ruby pulled Lena aside as they walked back to the Arias van. 

“Wait.”

“What’s up?” Lena slowed her gait, creating distance between them and the other women.

Holding up Lena’s phone that she still apparently had, (something Lena had forgotten and would have likely left without it,) Ruby smiled. “I’ve got your perfect shot.” 

“You…?” It took Lena a moment to remember the earlier promise. Taking the phone and looking at the photo pulled up, Ruby really had done it. Her own biggest critic aside from her mother, Lena couldn’t find anything to squawk about. It was taken sometime during brunch, no one else in frame, candid, her sunglasses pushed up in her hair, a leg tucked up, knee towards her chest. The sun was shining through the window just right, highlighting the green of her eyes. She was laughing about something, or close to laughing. There were small crinkles by her eyes, nose scrunched just a bit. And she was smiling, a toothy and genuine smile. 

“You can say thank you,” Ruby cut in. 

“Thank you,” Lena parroted. 

“I don’t think you should put it on Tinder,” Ruby said, continuing. “You only look like that because you’re looking at her.” She pointed up to Kara chatting animatedly to Sam, narrowly missing walking into a construction cone. 

“Ruby…”

“Yeah, yeah, none of my business.” Ruby handed the phone back. “I’m just saying.”

After making it back to the van, Lena realized everyone was going in the opposite direction as her, her apartment downtown and the house in the suburbs. She insisted no one had to wait with her for her Uber, the paint appointment important enough. Everyone offered a hug, Sam and Alex included, before they piled back into the van. 

Leaning against the brick of the building and watching the little icon of Tammy’s Nissan Altima near her location, Lena let the warm fuzzies of the morning and afternoon wash over her. Luthor’s didn’t brunch. They didn’t have car singalongs or throw paper wrappers at each other. Lena knew family dynamics like Sam, Alex, Ruby and Kara’s existed. It wasn’t like the movies were pulling the heartwarming moments out of thin air, but being included was a welcome change. 

She pulled up her phone photos, studying the shot Ruby had taken. She looked _so_ happy. Her thumb slipped against the screen, a new picture coming up, a blurrier one of Kara pulling a face. Continuing to swipe, Ruby had been going to town at Driftwood. Along with all the failed market shots, there was a selfie of Ruby and Alex, an unflattering shot of a fork mid-way to her mouth, and one more surprise. It was her and Kara after they had finished eating, a small fleck of chocolate on the outside of Kara’s mouth. Judging by Kara’s head being nestled into her shoulder, it was when she had been chastising her for not sleeping. Her cheek was smushed slightly on the top of Kara’s head, the corners of her lips turned up into a contented smile. The fluttery feeling came back, not just about being included in the family activities, but because there was no way in hell Lena was going to let any of the photos see the light of day on Tinder. 

/////

Lena looked at the photo of her and Kara more often than she’d care to admit in the following days. Jess had almost caught her on multiple occasions, Lena able to click back into her email app and act like she wasn’t super distracted just in time. Then she had to travel again, five days in Star City. It took over her weekend and subsequently, her Kara time. Her hotel suite was beautiful, the bed piled with blankets. She felt no remorse holing up there every night of the trip after business-filled days, ordering poke bowls and dessert from room service and texting Kara. They had even spent one night watching the same show on Netflix from their respective locations. It was weird, she was working more than before, which was saying something for her workaholic lifestyle. But, she’d never felt so balanced; CEO and just another mid-twenties woman. She had best friends, a recently purchased personalized wine glass with her name on it, and a fucking _Bitmoji_. Tucked up in yet another article of clothing she had stolen from Kara on the last night of her trip, the two of them planned for a Wine Wednesday with Jess when she came back. 

When Wednesday finally rolled around, Lena back in National City, she was ready to burst. She had missed Kara, a lot. Exacerbated just a smidge by her red-eye iced coffee, she could not hide her mood all day. Her office persona tended to edge more on ice queen, but she smiled like an idiot all day. Jess had not-so-discreetly called her a useless lesbian when handing off her ordered-in lunch, Lena losing the battle of denying it. Just shy of five, Lena’s email inbox was still an unread mess. They just kept coming. It was par for the course, her to-do list always never ending. 

The double doors swung open as Lena was scraping her loose hair from her face, snorting at the nitpicky, yet still stupid, grammatical errors in the latest message. 

“I told you she was still working.” Jess was the first in, Kara trailing behind her. 

The phone rang before Lena could attempt to defend herself, able to shoot both women a smile before picking up. It was Eve Teschmacher, her best down in the lab. She talked her through troubleshooting one of the machines, Kara sitting patiently on the couch, Jess having disappeared when she hung up. “I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be, I’m early,” Kara said, popping up. “Jess went to go log out, she was going to log out of your phone line too once you hung up.”

Of course she was. Kara was going for the hug, so Lena pushed out of her desk chair, letting Kara wrap her up. “I feel like I haven’t seen you in forever, how are you?” 

Kara gave a final squeeze before letting go. “Good! I’m staying busy. National City College has me doing treats for their start of semester picnic, so that’s been nuts. Five flavors, including a custom one for the event, 5,000 popsicles total.”

“When did they tell you about this?” Lena asked, sinking back into her chair. It was the first she was hearing of it. 

“Yesterday.” Kara pulled up one of the chairs near the front of the desk. “Usually they’re a little more on top of things, I’ve done it the last two years. Nothing I can’t handle though. I think I’m going to rope Winn in to help out. You’re always welcome to too if you ever get out of this office.”

Lena’s phone beeped as Jess logged her out, seven more emails popping up in her queue. “You know I will if I can.” Two more emails came through and she rubbed at her eyelids, careful not to mess up her eye make up. “I don’t even know if I’m going to be able to finish what I need to tonight.”

“You have until six,” Jess said, coming back in. “Kara and I will hold off on the wine until then. After that, you’re going to have to work in the presence of our drunk asses and we won’t give you any of the wine.”

“You’re underestimating my will power.”

“And you’re underestimating my knowledge that you have a stash of vintage Bordeaux here. Don’t think we won’t drink it all just because it’s your favorite,” Jess shot back. 

Lena rolled her eyes, focus going back to her screen. Time sped right by, a wine cork popping while she scanned the response to her latest email about the potential of a new science building at Gotham University partnering with L-Corp. She glanced at the clock at the bottom of her screen, Jess and Kara staying true to their word, it was six on the dot. 

“Lena, can I grab the glasses out of your cabinet for this?” Jess asked, words blurring with Kara’s exclamation of, “Does expensive wine always smell this good?!”

Lena tore her gaze from the screen, Jess already crossing the room to get the glasses, Kara lying on the floor, taking another whiff from the bottle. “Fine by me. Fair warning, I still have a lot of shit to do.”

“You said you’d be done by six,” Kara protested, sitting up.

“That was Jess.”

Coming back with the glasses, Jess sat back down next to Kara. “She’s really good at time management until it relates to when she cuts herself off for the day. I need to stop fighting it, it seems to make her want to work even longer.”

There was some truth to Jess’ statement, the insistence of her going home occasionally bringing out a defiant petulance. Lena was never all that keen on being told what to do. She did still have a lot to do, but wine on the floor with the two people she was closest with definitely was better motivation than usual. “Give me twenty more minutes.”

It was forty-five before the end was near. The first bottle of wine had been crushed, Jess working on opening the second. 

Kara had shifted to laying with her feet propped up against the couch, moving into a weird v-sit position every time she took a drink. “I want to know the dirt on Lena. Assistants always have the dirt.”

That got Lena’s eyes to shoot up from her laptop, their conversations starting to distract her more and more. Plus, Jess knew _a lot_. 

Wine glass still at her lips, Jess gave a hum. “Dirt on Lena Luthor, so much to choose from.” Lowering the glass, she tapped a finger to her chin. 

“Jessica…”

Jess waved off the weak warning. “Oh, I know. She does, on occasion, turn on the Friends theme song to cheer herself up. And by on occasion, I mean a lot.”

Lena breathed a sigh of relief at the tame answer, Kara still holding up a hand. “Important follow up, do you do the clapping part?”

“I’m not a monster, that’s the part that cheers me up.”

“Wait a minute, you sing the Friends theme song all alone but you won’t sing Bohemian Rhapsody in the car?”

Jess scoffed. “What kind of person doesn’t sing along to Bohemian Rhapsody?”

“I don’t know all the words and I was tired.” Lena finished typing a chat message out to Eve. “Are we going to order food?”

“French fries…” Kara drawled, doing her little v-sit for another sip of wine. 

“Like poutine, or just straight fries?” Jess asked.

“Straight fries. But like, different kinds. And dipping sauces. Ranch. Barbeque. _Aioli_.” Kara wiped across her lips, groaning as she sat up fully. “Lena. I know you don’t like mayonnaise, but is it okay that aioli is just fancy mayonnaise?”

“I’m gonna answer that, and say yes,” Jess cut in. “Specifically chipotle mayonnaise. Lena, you can’t even argue this one.”

Lena looked up from her laptop again. She couldn’t. When Jess had set up her Tinder account for the first time, it had been one of the first time Lena had been super drunk around her. Her memory was fuzzy, but she did remember a bottle of scotch, crying that she would never find love, and waffles fries coated in chipotle aioli. “I approve.” Her eyes flitted back blurrily to her screen, clicking on a new email as Kara let out a whoop. 

“I’m gonna Postmates it here.” Jess pulled herself off the floor, coming behind Lena. “Where you at, boss?”

“Yes, you can expense this. No, I’m not done,” Lena said, trying to get ahead of Jess’ question while trying to get her eyes to focus again. 

“Who are you emailing?”

“Japan. It’s like midday.”

Jess rolled her eyes. “Sometimes I want to call the IT team and get them to shut off the internet. Then I remember you’re an evil genius who could probably configure a way to get wifi with a paperclip and a hair tie.”

“Or she could just ping a hotspot off her phone,” Kara offered. 

The message to one of the companies she worked with in Japan was simple, Lena able to type in a final ‘Thanks!’, hit send, and shut her laptop. “I’m done. Relax.” Though it was directed to the two other women, she felt her own posture relax too, the stresses of the work day put on hold until at least 7:30 the following morning. 

/////

Jess left before the fries were finished, citing the not wanting a wine hangover and a waiting boyfriend back at home. She got hugs from both Kara and Lena, though Lena didn’t mind the departure, laying back down on the rug with Kara. They lay flat on their backs, bodies creating a small angle, heads nearly touching. The office was quieter, the faint sounds of the city fading even more as the night wore on. 

“I want to, I don’t know, push the boundaries of popsicles. Does that sounds dumb?”

“No.” Lena rubbed a fry-greasy hand on a napkin. “Everything you make is amazing. What did you have in mind?”

“Umm…” Kara stalled, putting her hands behind her head. “I don’t totally know, just like, tie-dye popsicles, tea infused booze pops, and, this doesn’t even make sense, but my brain keeps going to a popsicle macaron. Oh, or something with the Synsepalum dulcificum berry, you know that one that makes sour things taste sweet.”

Lena sat up. “Absolutely none of that sounds dumb, don’t let anyone tell you differently.”

“You’re not saying that just ‘cuz you’re drunk?”

Wine glass still half full, Lena shook her head. “Not even drunk, you’re drunk.”

Kara lifted her head up only, chin and neck wrinkling up. “I’ve had way too many french fries to be drunk.” 

Lena scoffed, corners of her lips turning up, eyes at the ceiling. “Thank you for tonight.”

“Aside from annoy you while you worked and drop aioli on your rug, what have I done?” Kara sat up fully too, scooting to be next to Lena. 

“What haven’t you done?” Lena dropped her head onto Kara’s shoulder with a sigh. “If you weren’t here, I’d still be emailing, or tinkering, or worrying. You make me have fun, and I appreciate it.”

Kara rested her head atop Lena’s. “That’s what friends are for.”

And there it was again. Friends. “Oh my god.” Lena let the words slip before she could stop herself. 

“What, are we not friends?”

“Of course we are,” Lena tried to backtrack. “I didn’t mean it like… I just feel we’re more like...” she trailed off, traction fading. 

It took a moment, but Kara’s eyes narrowed a bit, realization coming. “Lena, are you, do you…” 

As Kara’s own train of thought trickled off, Lena’s heart went to her throat. “What?”

“You scoffed because I said ‘friends’. Which we are, but you…” Kara lifted her head back up, struggling but finding her words somewhat quicker. “Oh my god.” 

“Kara.” Whether it was the small amount of wine or just the want to end the broken exchange of statements, Lena reached a hand to turn Kara to face her. 

“So,” Kara’s voice lowered, eyes locking onto hers, “if I said I wanted to kiss you right now, you’d…”

“Do it.”

“Yeah?” Kara sounded surprised, like she wasn’t expecting her blunt statement to go over as well. “You’re ok-”

Lena closed the gap between them, cutting her off. Kara’s lips were soft, tasted like red wine and salt. She didn’t pull back, her hand pushing into Lena’s hair, kiss deepening. Weeks of repressed feelings bubbling over, Lena needed to be closer, moving to Kara’s lap, legs bracketing her hips, knees digging into the carpet. Her skirt scrunched up in the process but she really didn’t care. Kara put a hand to her thigh to anchor her in place, thumb pressing into the soft skin. A familiar thrum starting low in Lena’s stomach and she broke away for a moment, breath coming in pants. 

Lips still nearly touching, noses brushing up against each other, Kara’s breath was just as uneven. “Is this okay?” she murmured. 

“Yeah,” Lena nodded, letting Kara pull her back in. The couch legs squeaked against the floor as the piece of furniture moved, Kara’s back pressing too hard into it. 

Their position was awkward at best, Kara eventually running out of anything to lean on. She pushed them both up, bringing Lena onto wobbly legs. Keeping an arm tangled in Kara’s hair, Lena let herself get coaxed gently onto the couch, pulling Kara down with her. Her foot hooked around Kara’s calf, urging her closer as she sank into the cushions. Kara held herself up with an elbow and forearm, letting the weight of her lower half press fully into Lena. Her kisses moved away from Lena’s mouth, trailing her jawline, down her neck, teeth scraping and nipping against her collarbone, sure to leave marks but Lena couldn’t find it in herself to care. Kara’s hips were grinding a steady pressure that had Lena clutching the taut, warm skin of her back and she arched into it, a moan slipping out before Kara’s lips were back on hers. It felt so good, kissing Kara felt _so_ good. 

It was like the world outside the two of them was muted, blocked out besides the slight creaking movements of the couch, Kara’s breath hot on her neck, and her own whimpers as fingertips trailed lightly up her untucked blouse against the side of her stomach. 

She almost didn’t hear it, the door opening. It was the movement she caught from the corner of her eye. A flashing glance to her left again and her breath caught, the unmistakable stern throat clearing from her mother catching Kara’s attention too. 

Panic rose, Lena scrambling to her feet immediately, pushing Kara off and moving so fast she almost smacked into her chin with her shoulder. Sans the heels, she felt impossibly small, Lillian towering over her. She became very aware that her skirt was still rucked up to her hips, sudden trembling hands pulling it back down and going to wipe at any smeared red around her kiss-swollen lips. She knew she was a mess. No mirror necessary, she could tell by the way Lillian was glaring, the discontent as she looked her up and down. Her face burned, heart pounding, ears buzzing. She tried sucking in a breath. “Kara, you need to leave,” she choked out, the tone coming out much sharper than she meant. 

Kara’s face, already plagued with confusion, dropped. Hurt flashed across her features, though she didn’t move, frozen on the couch. 

“Get out!” Lena got louder, her eyes closing out of embarrassment and so she wouldn’t have to watch Kara go. The look on her face had already been enough. There was no way for her to be eloquent, her mind still reeling from where their makeout session would have gone without the interruption. But they had been interrupted and Lillian was there and Kara needed to be gone. There was a scuffle, Kara getting her things, footsteps heavy. The sound of her office door finally shutting hit her like a punch in the gut, eyes opening to find herself alone with Lillian. 

“Well, I certainly was not expecting to find you occupied like that. I was under the assumption this was a place of business.”

Lena’s stomach twisted at the satisfied calm in Lillian’s voice backed with a condescending bite. “What do you want?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯

**Author's Note:**

> Come yell at me on tumblr @itsmaddienotmaddy


End file.
